I wanted to share a few video clips and images from the Lafayette Louisiana area over the weekend before Mardi Gras.
The shear number of dance events to possibly attend is mind boggling so typically you have to pick two or three to try to pack in per day...
The first video clip below is from Gerry Spanger's Mardi Gras party he throws for all of the
dancers. This year he had Geno Delafose play so it was a very full
dance floor. My favorite quote from the event was while dancing with
one person I mentioned how hot it was with the packed dance floor and
she informed me that I should have seen what it was like before they
turned on the AC... Typically dancers will bring multiple shirts with
them as they soon get soaked with the Louisiana humidity levels.
The next video clip below is from Vermillionville with Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boy's. It's
amazing the amount of talent many of the artists have who rarely play
some of the bigger festivals around the country but clearly have the
talent for it!! My favorite comment from a lady dancer at
Vermillionville was her apologizing for "the Houston" coming out in
her. She was referring to a style of close dance position with her
gyrating hips that some of the advanced ladies can do...what can I say..
YeaURite!
This video clip below was from the
highlight event of my weekend with Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco
Band. Keith
didn't stop for one break all night with his 3+ hour set... quite
amazing when you consider most other "out of Louisiana" Cajun or Zydeco
bands take a break half way through their set. He played a ton of his older hits mixed in with the new. The low end bass power
of Keith's sound system is just plain amazing. Keith also just released
a new CD... see www.KeithFrank.com for more details.
This image to the right was from Grant Street Dance Hall where I had the opportunity to do a little Intermediate and advanced Zydeco dance workshop.
Check out the following link for some of the advanced stuff we covered at medium pace and there are always Zydeco DVD's for sale which slow down these moves further covering this stuff at www.LearnZydeco.com
Zydeco Dance Workshop - Saturday Feb 9th - Grant Street Dance Hall, Lafayette
What: Intermediate & Advanced Zydeco dance workshop covering a few intermediate and a few advanced Zydeco moves. We will also cover the hardest move in Zydeco, "The Reverse 360". If the group wants to learn a easy Zydeco line dance we can also cover this as well.
Online Lesson 1 (with video clip link below) As they say practice makes perfect and while we will be covering several intermediate moves if you want to brush up on the basics of some of the advanced footwork please click on the following YouTube link. No partner is really needed to practice this footwork before coming to class if wanted..
Online Lesson 2 Before coming to class if you want to do a little more practice click on the following link ....
We won't be covering any beginning Zydeco so check with your local instructors for this or go to www.ZydecoLesson.com for a free online lesson.
When: Saturday, Feb 9th, 2:00pm-3:00pm
Location: Grant Street Dance Hall, 113 W. Grant St. Lafayette, LA 70501 web: grantstdancehall.com
Cost: Free
(Just in town for a little fun weekend and thought it would be fun to throw in a short little workshop)
No RSVP needed nor do you need a partner.. we will provide. Any questions call 619-857-8409.
I have seen a lot of the Cajun/Creole type documentaries that have been released over the years but I have never seen this Creole Music and Culture in Rural Louisiana video which was very interesting.
Folklorist Nicholas Spitzer did a great job of capturing the interesting perspectives of the artists and Creole community from it's evolving roots not that long ago. It is so interesting to see John Delafose many years ago in his prime and Geno his son playing the washboard and drums at some of the dances with his daddy. Geno Delafose is playing this year at the Gator By The Bay festival in San Diego for the first time!
Click on the following link below to view the documentary and for more information on the film.
The last place on earth I would have ever expected Zydeco to show up is in Japan but thanks to the Zydeco Kicks they are helping to feed the frenzie.
What is amazing is the talents of the accordion player in being able to learn and play the Zydeco tunes as it's not like he can go down the street to get lessons!
The Zydeco Kicks is lead by Yoshitake who has made several trips to Louisiana as they have been playing for seveal years in Japan. It is also intersting to note that they love the music but nobody knows how to dance Zydeco so they just party on with their freestyle dancing.
Zydeco Kicks has a web site at the link below and of course he has his CD available as well as t-shirts. I think I will need to get one of those shirts for 1500 Yen.
Every year a good number of dancers all flock to Louisiana to ring in the new year. There
are always a ton of Cajun/Zydeco bands to choose from and it's a great
time to connect up with local and out of state dancers from all parts of the country.
Thanks to Dick from Oregon he does a wonderful job of sharing where the dancers are staying as well as what bands are playing where. Last time I went he had a special hospitality room that he put up a map with locations of all the dance places etc...
See the details listed below for this year and if you want to be added to his list for the future please send him email at the following... Details for this year are listed below for reference.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be
sure to read the new benefit provided by the Holiday Inn for our zydeco group
guests. It replaces the little usedhospitality
room of past years.
The New
Year's Zydeco Trip to Louisiana is the best New Year's party in the country!
If you haven't experienced it,you are missing
a whole lot of fun. Fly into New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 27 for the Rock 'n'
Bowl zydeco dance (get a good
hotel rate at www.hotwire.com for a
3-star hotel near the airport, or in downtown N.O.), then drive up to
the Holiday Inn
in Lafayette on Friday, check in, and get ready for more fun than you might
think possible for the
New Year's
weekend! Leave for home on Jan. 2.
************************
THURSDAY, Dec.
27: Rock 'n' Bowl-New Orleans;
Geno Delafose
& French Rockin' Boogie; 9 PM-Midnight. Non smoking
venue.
*************************
NEW YEAR'S EXTRAVAGANZA in Lafayette, LA will be Dec. 28-Jan.
1.
Zydeco Group
Room Rate at the Holiday Inn will be $60 + tax/night. To book your rooms at the
Holiday Innon Evangeline
Thruway in Lafayette, call the hotel direct at 337-233-6815. Be sure to
identify what you are booking for--"New Year's Zydeco Group Rate," and the dates
you want to stay. If you have any problemgetting the
$60/night rate, ask to speak to Ashley DeRouen, or contact dickbrainard@gmail.com. They haveboth king bed
rooms & two queen bed rooms. Now for the new
benefit the hotel is offering! Each hotel
registrant
in
our zydeco group
will receive a voucher at the time of registration good for a continental
breakfast each morning in
the Bistro. The voucher will be good for coffee, juice, Danish & muffin.
Should you want the full buffet breakfast ($8.95),the
value of the voucher ($4.95) will be applied to lower the cost of the full
buffet breakfast to $4.00. What a great benefit!
And,
don't forget to leave a gratiuity for your waitress. The Holiday Inn-Lafayette
is once again pulling out all the stops for us.Please
let them know we appreciate it.
***************************
Troy Carrier is
again organizing the annual New Year's "Tribute to Roy Carrier." Due to
logistical problems(toilets), this
year it will be held at the Zydeco Hall of Fame (formerly Richard's Club) just
outside Lawtell on Hwy. 190.There
will food for sale--fried chicken, bbq, red beans & rice, gumbo, ummm! Cover
charge will be $20/day--what a
bargain! NON SMOKING VENUE.
FRIDAY, Dec. 28:
Tribute to Roy Carrier; Zydeco Hall of Fame-Lawtell;
Live music from
3 PM until midnight, beginning with Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys,
followedby Corey "Lil'
Pop" Ledet, followed by Lil' Pookie & the Zydeco Sensations, and ending with
Lil' D& the Zydeco
Allstars. Non smoking venue.
Joe Hall &
the Louisiana Cane Cutters; 8:30 AM -Noon. Non smoking
venue.
SATURDAY, Dec.
29: Tribute to Roy Carrier; Zydeco Hall of Fame-Lawtell;
Live music from
2 PM until 10 PM, beginning with Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe, followed by
Joe Hall& the
Louisiana Cane Cutters, followed by "T" Broussard & the Zydeco Steppers, and
ending withHorace Trahan
& the Ossun Express. Non smoking venue.
SATURDAY, Dec.
29: La Poussiere-Breaux Bridge;
Steve Riley
& the Mamou Playboys; 7:00-10:00 PM. Non smoking
venue.
Keith Frank
& the Soileau Zydeco Band will play around 9 PM. Dinner is included in the
$30 cost.For further info
& tickets, call 337-789-5048, or email pc70512@aol.com. Non smoking
venue.
SUNDAY, Dec. 30:
Whiskey River Landing-Henderson Levee;
Geno Delafose
& French Rockin' Boogie; 4:30-8:00 PM. Smoking
permitted.
MONDAY, Dec. 31:
Vermilionville-Lafayette;
Geno Delafose
& French Rockin' Boogie; 9:00-Midnight. The website is now up for ordering
tickets. Go to www.bayouvermilion.org/index.cfm?load=event&event=331
to order advance tickets,or buy tickets
at the door if still available. Non smoking venue.
TUESDAY, Jan. 1;
St. Peter Catholic Church Hall-Carencro;
Conversations
are in progress with L'Angelus Family Cajun Band to play their annual New Year's
Day Brunch Dance.
10:30 AM-1:30 PM. Gumbo & homemade goodies will be served. Go north on I-49
to Carencroexit (5 miles),
left to Romero St. (which becomes Church St.), left 2-blocks to church hall. Non
smoking venue.
Stay
tuned for confirmation.
TUESDAY, Jan. 1:
Tribute to Roy Carrier; Zydeco Hall of Fame-Lawtell; Live music
from 2 PM until 10 PM,beginning with
Snuggles & the Show Stoppers, followed by Dwight Carrier & the Zydeco Ro
Dogs, followed byJeffrey
Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, and ending with Step Rideau & the Zydeco
Outlaws. Non smoking venue.
************************************
Future notices
will be sent as new zydeco information is received.
Just talked to one of the people who hire the bands for Gator By The Bay and this year there is a very good chance on the Zydeco side of Geno Delafose, Andre Thierry and Same Ol' Two Step. Quite an amazing combination and I can see I need to get myself in shape to survive the Gator Weekend!!
Will update with details on the Cajun bands they get when this information is available..
Hat's off to those decision makers to keep the festival getting better and better :)
Zydeco fans are very
fortunate to have the wide variety of artists to dance to. Of all
of these artists there are very few female accordion players... One of
the most popular is Rosie Ledet. She has greatly improved over the
years and can really put down some great Zydeco dance rythums as noted
in the following video clip.
Here is one of the young Zydeco players/bands coming up in the ranks.. Rusty Metoyer and Zydeco Krush. We saw him a couple years ago out here in San Diego and keeps getting better. What is great is when the bands play a ton of the great "cover" tunes that the dancers love dancing to.
Many bands that have been playing for a while start thinking all they need to do is create new tunes and play a few of the old tunes. What they don't realize is the dancers LOVE many of the old tunes. You know the feeling of when you buy a CD and you only like one or two tracks. So bands need to remember that dancers Love the cover tunes which is what Rusty played a lot of so the dancers loved him and the band.
I put in a request for this years Gator By The Bay festvial in San Diego to have Andre, Cedryl and Rusty for major Zydeco bands... would be a great lineup imo...
Cedryl Ballou was asked back for two oncore requests on Saturday night after he played. He invited a few kids on stage to join him as well which just added to the energy and experience.
There is a long list of great artists who play on a regular basis in Louisiana and Texas but don't get to play outside their area. We also had the wonderful opportunity to see J Paul and the Zydeco New Breeds earlier this summer at the Long Beach Bayou Festival and it was his first time to California.
Hope to see Cedryl out to the west coast again as he is definintly up there with the top Zydeco bands we see coming out of Louisiana and Texas. Cedryl's Web Site: www.zydecotrendsetters.com http://youtu.be/2eJ5RlrSCvo
Zydeco Workshop Saturday - July 7th next to Portland's Blues & Zydeco Festival
Saturday morning before the Blues festival there will be a free Zydeco dance workshop covering Intermediate moves and advanced Louisiana style slides. These moves are often seen at the bars and festivals in Louisiana & Texas.
Time: 10:30am-11:30am
Location: Hotel Fifty (across the street from the festival) 50 Southwest Morrison Street Columbia Conference Room, 2nd Floor
Cost: Free Questions: call 619-857-8409
Video Practice Link: If you would like to practice the basics of the slides before class please click on the following link.. http://youtu.be/NtTk0utd1vk
What I truley love about Zydeco is the spirit & attitude it brings out. Here is a clip from the Bill Picket Trial Ride in Beaumont Texas... I have had many Zydeco adventures over the years but I have not done a trial ride.."yet"..
Oh Mamacita - Zydeco 2-Step with a Mexican music style to it which is great. He sings a bit of the tune Spanish and then English which works really well.
Lessons from the Master Boozoo Chavis - This is a great vocal track of Boozoo-isums. The late great Boozoo Chavis has a unique perspective which he often shared I often wish there was a little book of these so leave it up to Keith Frank to realize how special his words were and shared an actual audio clip of Boozoo sharing a few words of wisdom.
Don't Start No Sh** - A great little duet of him and another singer with a huge low end bass playing that will shake any room it is played in...
This year's Long Beach Bayou Festival has an incredible line up of Zydeco and Cajun artists. I am consistently impressed each year with the artists they are able to book and this year they blew my Zydeco dance stomping mind!!.
Chris Ardoin, Geno Delafose, Joel Savoy, Jesse Lege, Lil Wayne, Kevin Naquin, J Paul Jr. just to name a few....
From this line up I can already see that I will be lucky if I can walk back to my car after dancing all weekend ;)..
A new DVD was put out by Erin Brandt with Zydeco Body Moves.
After reviewing it she does a great job of breaking down the ladies movements. This is the only female specific DVD in the world that deals specifically with female movements in Zydeco.
Erin Brandt is a massage therapist so she really knows her stuff and how and what muscles are used to make your Body Move!
Give her a call at 619-520-1373 for price info and to get a copy.
Check out this quite an amazing and very professional music video from Cupid of the "Cupid Shuffle"... music is from Lil Nate & the Zydeco Big Timers.
You can hear a faint accordion in the background and there are short clips inside the video of a couple zydeco dancing...
Quite an amazing video that not only shows line dancers dancing... but couple dancing...
It is music like this that will help Zydeco become more mainstream and while some more traditionalists may say it's not "Zydeco"... it's got Zydeco in there for sure...
If you have ever been around a few Cajun's or tried to get some directions when in Louisiana you will probably appreciate this YouTube video clip of a few kids in a car using OnStar to try and get some directions. Yea... they are messing with the OnStar guy really badly ... but as they say in Louisiana... "It's All Good"...
