Word: cajun
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...Cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian," a region of Nova Scotia that was home to many French Canadians until they were expelled by the British in the 1750s and '60s. Many emigrated to Louisiana, then a French possession, where their language and culture withered, evolving into a kind of folk curiosity. Quebeckers do not want to go the way of the Cajun. They do not want to end up as some colorful ethnic subculture known for its music or cooking or the odd linguistic twist. Quebeckers are driven by a terror of being crushed by an English-speaking continent...
That, according to Beausoleil's Doucet, accounts for the striking vocal style that marks Cajun music: a high tenor that must strain to be heard over the roaring accordion and droning fiddles. The protean Doucet, 43, is a virtuoso violinist, accordionist and singer who gleefully punctuates the French lyrics with the traditional shouts of "Oh, ya, yaie!" He is also an accomplished composer and scholar who has tracked the Cajun style from its origins in northern France through the songs of such 20th century Cajuns as Amada Ardoin and Iry Lejune. Together with his brother David and some friends...
...slide guitar. His most recent album, South of I-10 (referring to the interstate that bisects Louisiana), is even better. Creole Angel, for example, features a Zydeco-like repeated riff that builds to an overpowering climax. Landreth's variety of accents embraces the joyous cultural fusion that is Cajun country. Says he: "Man, this is the place to be." It's hard to disagree. --With reporting by David E. Thigpen/New York
...accordion may bring to mind visions of polkas and Lawrence Welk, but to the Cajuns it is the cornerstone of their distinctive sound. First introduced into Louisiana in 1850, the diatonic Cajun accordion has 10 melody buttons (instead of the more familiar piano keys) on one side and two bass accompaniment buttons on the other. "The Cajuns liked the accordion for two reasons," says Savoy. "No. 1, you could break half the metal reeds and it would still play. And No. 2, it was loud...
...Cajun is the raucous, slightly tragic musical memory of a people, then Zydeco is its ebullient younger cousin. The name is the phonetic rendering of the first two words of the French phrase "les haricots sont pas salas," which means "the snap beans aren't salted," a traditional indicator of hard times. But there is no misery here: while Cajun's intrinsic melancholy can be heard in its grave waltzes, Zydeco is almost nothing but upbeat two-step rhythms. Audiences show their appreciation not by applauding but by getting up and dancing...