With a new year upon us, I cannot help but become reflective about the past year and what it has meant for the music of Southwest Louisiana. Of course, with all the hype about the “dawn of the new millennium,” I have also had a chance to reflect upon nearly a century of zydeco and Cajun music. (However, I must point out that I am one of the few people I know who will not speak of a new millennium until it actually begins on January 1, 2001, a year from now.)
Since I will turn 25 years old this month, I have only been able to witness a small part of the development of Creole and Cajun music in the twentieth century. Luckily for me and the rest of us, there have been a small group of scholars and journalist who have been documenting the development of the music for several decades now. Indeed, about a year before I was born, folklorist Barry Ancelet and photographer Elemore Morgan, Jr. began work on a project that would chronicle the history and development of Cajun and Creole music in Louisiana as part of a project sponsored by CODOFIL at the first Tribute to Cajun Music Festival held in Lafayette.
In some ways, the 1970s were a lean decade in terms of Cajun and zydeco music. Some even argued that the rich culture of the region was beginning to fade out of existence. With these frightening thoughts in mind, Ancelet and Morgan set out to document the musical heritage of Cajun and Creole musicians, traveling throughout Southwest Louisiana to conduct interviews and make photographs of these musicians at home and at their craft. In 1984, the duo published “Cajun and Creole Music Makers,” a book which documented their work.
Some of the best-known and most important musicians are featured in this book, including Dewey Balfa, Clifton Chenier, Nathan Abshire, Inez Catalon, Lula Landry, Canray Fontenot and Dennis McGee, all of whom are no longer with us as we head towards the new millennium. Others like Michael Doucet, Christine Balfa and Zachary Richard are still making brilliant music and are some of the most successful musicians playing today.
Since 1984, the popularity of Cajun and Creole music has surged to never before imagined heights. Not only have homegrown bands sprouted like mushrooms across Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, but nearly every major city in the United States can boast of their own “zydeco” or “Cajun” band. Moreover, with local musicians touring internationally, the phenomenon has spread across several oceans and now even cities like London, England have local musicians attempting to imitate Cajun and Creole music.
The University Press of Mississippi reissued “Cajun and Creole Music Makers” in 1999. Ancelet has written an epilogue to the new addition and he and Morgan have also added new photos and a new section to the updated book. The newest section features Geno Delafose and the French Rockin’ Boogie as well as Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.
The book provides a wonderful guide for anyone interested in exploring the development of Cajun and Creole music in the last century. Considering the vast library of Cajun and Creole music recordings which now exist as well as the many compilations of Cajun and zydeco music available today and the availability of resources like John and Allan Lomax’s Classic Louisiana Recordings: Cajun and Creole Music, Volumes I and II, the next decade and the next century are sure to be progressive ones for Cajun and Creole music makers.
