Description:
From its humble beginnings in 1970 as a free concert for a few hundred locals, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has grown into one of the world's largest music gatherings, each spring drawing hundreds of thousands from all over the world. Jazzfest, as it's known locally, has both stimulated and reflected out-of-state interest in Louisiana music. It was once a rarity for Cajun, zydeco and second-line R&B acts to ever leave the state; now dozens of them make the circuit of baby-boomer, roots-music dance clubs. Most of that exponential growth has occurred in the last 10 years, and Rounder Records, which made a major
From its humble beginnings in 1970 as a free concert for a few hundred locals, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has grown into one of the world's largest music gatherings, each spring drawing hundreds of thousands from all over the world. Jazzfest, as it's known locally, has both stimulated and reflected out-of-state interest in Louisiana music. It was once a rarity for Cajun, zydeco and second-line R&B acts to ever leave the state; now dozens of them make the circuit of baby-boomer, roots-music dance clubs. Most of that exponential growth has occurred in the last 10 years, and Rounder Records, which made a major commitment to Louisiana music in the mid-'80s, has reaped the benefit of the scene's growing popularity. Here the Boston indie label celebrates its own prescience with a two-CD anthology. Despite the title, most of the tracks were recorded within the last 10 years, but they cover a lot of ground--from the old-fashioned brothel piano of Tuts Washington to the funky brass arrangements of the Rebirth Brass Band, from the ancient Cajun song styles of David Doucet to the hip-hop-influenced zydeco of L'il Brian and the Zydeco Travelers. The first CD or "City Disc" focuses on 14 New Orleans artists, ranging from such late piano masters as Champion Jack Dupree and James Booker to such smooth soul crooners as Dalton Reed and Chuck Carbo. The second CD or "Country Disc" presents 18 Cajun and zydeco acts from French Louisiana, including such well known names as D.L. Menard and Buckwheat Zydeco as well as such emerging talents as Geno Delafose and Bruce Daigrepont. Holding the set together is the slippery sense of syncopation most Louisianans seem to be born with. Whether that pelvic pulse is dictated by fiddle or tuba, button accordion or upright piano, the infectious rhythms could only have come from that particular stretch of the Gulf Coast.--Geoffrey Himes
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Manufacturer: Rounder / Umgd
Release date: 30 May 1995
EAN: 0011661851825 UPC: 011661851825
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