©Andrea Rubinstein 1999-2000
Balfa and Geno Toujours!
(2/10/00) Balfa Toujours and Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie played
Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night, and for those
of you in the Bay Area who didn't make it... shame on you! This was an
evening of inspired music-making from Cajun and zydeco musicians who carry
the very tradition in their genes.
The evening opened with Balfa Toujours (meaning Balfa Forever) doing a
tradition-drenched Cajun set. Guitarist Christine Balfa is the daughter
and musical heir of legendary musician, Dewey Balfa. As part of the Balfa
Brothers, Dewey and Christine's uncles, brought Cajun music out of
obscurity and ridicule as that 'clanky clank' music and into a source of
regional and national pride. With her husband, Dirk Powell on
accordion, and former Bay Area resident, Kevin Wimmer on fiddle, these
three players form the core of a band that can play songs in the old
traditions as well as update the sound with a modern freshness. On
one amazing number, Kevin took a pair of drumsticks and tapped the beat directly
on the fiddle that Dirk was playing. You can just imagine how this
technique evolved from house dances in bayou country. The repertoire
ranged from numbers that have been played by Cajuns forever, to new compositions
by the band that sound like they could have been. As a special treat,
during a few numbers, Geno Delafose joined BT on stage to play the drums.
A short hour later, their set was over. Their delighted fans really
would have liked to have heard Balfa toujours.
After a short break, Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie took the stage.
Geno, of course, is son of John Delafose. And he and Christine Balfa
(along with Steve Riley) , grew up together in the Eunice-Mamou area, even going
to school together. They often collaborate on each others recordings and share
the love of the Cajun-Creole French musical heritage and work particularly well
in those spaces where their traditions intersect. Geno's band included
"Cookie" Chavis, Boozoo's son, on guitar, and "Popp" Esprite
on bass. When Geno is on stage, the energy level just cranks up and tonight was
no exception. Geno is the goodwill ambassador of Louisiana French
music. Before his sets, he walks around the audience, in tee-shirt and
baseball cap, thanking everyone for coming. Then he goes on stage,
grinning from ear to ear, with his starched shirt and jeans, and cowboy hat, and
rocks the house. Musically, Geno has matured, and he seems to be
refining his repertoire to really suit his talents. There are just no low
moments or weak song choices in his sets any longer. The surprise this
evening was his interpretation of the country hit, "Behind Closed
Doors".
Toward the end of Geno's set, the entire Balfa Toujours band came on stage.
It was apparent from the interplay between the bands and the
audience that these bands have many friends as well as fans in the Bay Area and
the dance floor in the exquisite GAMH was packed with waltzers and two-steppers.
During the four song finale, with the nine musicians clearly having a grand ol'
time, they created the most rockin' versions of Cajun classics, sitting well
within the traditions, yet transforming the songs so that no one would mistake
these renditions for their daddy's music. If you could sit down during
this set, you must have had your earplugs pushed in too far! You ain't
heard nothing if you ain't heard Geno playing Cajun music with Balfa's daughter
and Boozoo's son. It is transformational music, French rockin' gospel, joy
to the world. It just makes you want to say thanks for being privileged to bear
witness to such sounds... years from now, you will be able to say... yes I was
there... I was there that night and saw Geno and Christine and Kevin and Dirk
and Cookie and Popp tearing up the house .... Hallelujah!
Ed Luckenbach, Frog Legs guitarist and Tete Rouge accordionist,
died unexpectedly at his home on January 19, 2000. Ed had not been feeling well
since Thanksgiving and had been undergoing testing to try to find the cause.
Condolences can be sent to Elaine Herrick, 23 Highland Drive, Napa, CA 94559
A memorial service, musical jam and dance were held on Sunday, January 30th. See
www.froglegsband.com for a remembrance
of Ed and developing details on this musical celebration of Ed's life. See
http://teterouge.crazygator.com
for Jim Philip's memorial page and slide show.
Dec. 26, 1999. On Sunday
night, Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic were scheduled to play a dance from 5 to 7
pm at Eagles Hall in Alameda. In the house were Little Malcolm and the House
Rockers from Lake Charles, LA. During the evening, Malcolm and the
band came up to play a few numbers, an unexpected surprise, as did Chasya
Thierry, Andre's sister. Things were really rocking when at 8pm the music
abruptly stopped, and the band started packing to leave. Apparantly, two
of the band members, Larry James, and the drummer, had another gig, that
they didn't tell Andre about until 7:30 pm. The crowd was all pumped
up and wanting to dance. They started chanting "9:00, 9:00"!
And to everyone's amazement and delight, Little Malcolm's band had their
instruments nearby, brought them into Eagle's, and proceeded to play a wonderful
90 minute set. They really saved the day. On behalf of the Bay
Area dancers in attendance, I'd like to say to the House Rockers, "Thanks
... you guys are the best!".
Jan. 2, 2000 
Little
Malcolm and the House Rockers played a Sunday evening set at Eagle's Hall
and then headed over to the Monte Carlo Restaurant in San Francisco to back up
Andre Thierry. The band was really rocking at both venues. In SF,
Malcolm sat in on drums, while Andre played front and center. It was stunning
musically to hear them adapt to Andre's repertoire and add that Louisiana
backbeat groove to his accordion.
West Coast Zydeco Extravangza
The West Coast Zydeco Extravaganza weekend was kicked off on Friday night,
November 26,1999, with a sold-out performance by Geno Delafose and
French Rockin' Boogie. Over 450 folks from over 8 states attended, and
there was an hour long waiting line out front to get in... shades of Rock N'
Bowl at Jazz Fest time! Geno played for 5 hours with only a 15 minute
break to a wildly enthusiatic crowd. I know I was in the 'zydeco zone',
just blissed out, for most of the evening. On Saturday, music was
provided by local favorites, Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic, and Kent Menard.
Sunday afternoon, Willis Prudhomme backed by Bonne Musique Zydeco was a big
hit. It's been over three years since Willis had played here, and many
new dancers had not been lucky enough to hear him before and were knocked out.
Closing the set was an encore performance by Geno Delafose, who decided on
Friday night to return on Sunday to give his fans who were unable to get in on
opening night, a chance to see him. This weekend's
festivities were sponsored by the West Coast Cajun & Zydeco Music and
Dance Association.
Queen Ida
Queen Ida brought her band to Eagle's Hall on Saturday
night, November 20th, and it was a delightful evening. A family affair, Ida was
accompanied at various times throughout the evening by Al Rapone, her brother,
Freeze Guillary, her son, and a talented little rubboard player who appeared to
be her grandson (Freeze's son). Also adding to the musical mix was a very
talented saxophone player with a bluesy voice. Queen Ida and Al Rapone have a
new CD out, and this evening was billed as a CD release party.
Born in 1930 in Lake Charles, it's hard to believe the energetic
woman on stage is close to 70 years old! Queen Ida moved to the Bay
Area after WWII, and was the first woman to lead a zydeco band. She has been a
major force in popularizing zydeco music around the world and has won one Grammy
award, and an additional three Grammy nominations during her long career.
Pinch Me. I Woke Up Thinking I Was in Lousiana
This Weekend.
When
LeeRoy Thomas and Mona Wilson weren't tossing beads into the crowd....
they
were entertaining the crowds with hot music...
and
cool dance moves at Bay Area Dance Camp II in Alameda....
while Alida and Moise Viator were playing their sweet Cajun music to happy
crowds in Silicon Valley.
(October 18, 1999) Friday night started off the weekend right
when LeeRoy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners opened the festivities for Bay
Area Dance Camp II at Eagle's Hall in Alameda. A good sized crowd enjoyed
ihis traditionally styled zydeco. LeeRoy's last visit to the
Bay Area was with his father, Leo, and this trip sees him breaking out on his
own. His repetoire has changed somewhat, but LeeRoy stills mines
traditional territory as well as adds some original compositions.. And by
the end of the evening, you might consider calling him the Jimi Hendrix of
zydeco, as he demonstrated how to play accordian in the air, between his legs,
and on his head.
Saturday, the Dance Camp featured accordian workshops with
LeeRoy Thomas, basic zydeco and waltz dance lessons with Dana
DeSimone, and advanced dance lessons with guest dance instructors, Mona
Wilson and Joely Bias, from Texas. In the evening Tom Rigney and
Flambeau played. Just like in Louisiana, however, there was
too much music to choose from that day. For instance, Andre Thierry
was playing in San Jose and Gator Beat was playing at Sweets
Ballroom. Plus there were two other Louisiana performances
going on that day to choose from...
Moise and Alida Viator played a house dance in Mountain
View accompanied by the Bay Area's 
Suzy
and Eric Thompson on Saturday afternoon. . In September, these talented
teenagers who live on a farm in the community of Tasso, near Eunice, Louisiana ,
played at Festival Acadians and before that, at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. .
Alida, 15 years old, is adorable and absolutely charmed everyone in attendance
as she introduced the French songs, played exquisitely carved fiddles handmade
by herself, her brother and her mother, and sang. Her brother Moishe, 18,
was equally talented on guitar. The afternoon was sunny and warm, and a small
but enthusiastic crowd danced, ate boudin and thoroughly enjoyed
this sweet afternoon of family music-making.
Later that evening, I headed back to San Francisco, where
funky New Orleans piano player, Henry Butler, was playing to a packed house at
Mick's Lounge. .Mitch Woods, without his Rocket 88's, also sat in for a few
songs on Saturday nite.
.Sunday afternoon the Dance Camp featured additional dance
workshops with Dana DeSimone and Steve Nash, a great dancer and rubboard player
from Louisiana., and a rubboard workshop with RC Carrier. The afternoon's
dance started with some exhibition style dancing by the dance instructors and
some talented Bay Area dancers, followed by music provided by LeeRoy
Thomas, Kent Menard and the Zydeco Flames. The bands were on fire and the energy
level on the dance floor was way up. Driving home from Alameda
over the Bay Bridge after dancing to exhaustion, I could see the fog rolling in,
cooling down me and the city. It doesn't get much better than this!
D.L Menard Headlined This Year's Ardenwood Festival
photo
courtesy of Bob Shepard
(9/26/99) This year's Ardenwood Festival was a great success.
It was a glorious, sunny day, and a nice sized crowd turned out to enjoy the
music, dancing, food and atmosphere. Music was provided by D.L. Menard,
aka the Cajun Hank Williams, as well as local Bay Area favorites,
Frog Legs, Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic, California Cajun
Orchestra, the Zydeco Flames and Cajun Classics. The California Friends of
Louisiana French Music hosted a well attended cultural booth and held several
raffles during the day.
(September 22, 1999) How much fun can a dancer pack into a 5 day trip to
Louisiana? I just got home from a visit to New Orleans and Lafayette,
principally to attend Festival Acadiens and I know I tested the upper limits of
maximum enjoyment for a vacation.
Where to begin? On Wednesday, I flew into New Orleans and arrived around
dinnertime, checked into what turned out to be a great, reasonably priced hotel
just 3 blocks from the French Quarter, and walked the few blocks to sample some
Louisiana cuisine before heading off to Rock and Bowl for the evening. A
fabulous dinner at Emeril Lagasse’s NOLA restaurant was an auspicious
beginning to this holiday - gumbo and a chocolate bread pudding to die for were
highlights. Then, it was time to head to the real main course of the evening:
dancing to File at Mid-City Lanes. Although the band sounded great, the
Wednesday night crowd was a little sparse. After a few hours, I decided to do
some club-hopping, and catch Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers at Le Bons
Temps Rouler. Amazingly, there was no cover charge to see Kermit (I paid $20 to
see him in San Francisco in August!), plus there was free BBQ for attendees. I
ran into a dance buddy from St. Louis I knew from prior Louisiana trips at the
club, and afterwards, we partook of a New Orleans tradition: cafe au lait and
beignets at 1:30 AM at Cafe du Monde. The French Quarter is serene during the
wee hours of the morning; no surprise that we ran into other dancers enjoying
the ambiance as well.
Thursday it was time to play tourist: for me that entails a breakfast that
includes pain perdu, a New Orleans version of French toast, visiting some
favorite shops in the Quarter, oysters at Felix’s ($6.50 for a dozen!), a
visit to Tower Records and the Louisiana Music Factory, and just poking around.
This time, I stopped into Storyville, a new club that, in the afternoon, has New
Orleans style piano players entertaining the folks in of their three lounge/bars
areas. After dinner at the Napolean House, I headed out to Rock N Bowl to see
Geno Delafose and French Rcckin’ Boogie. This time, the joint was jumpin’
with locals and friends from Lafayette and around the country that had arrived
for the Festival Acadiens celebrations. John Blancher, the ever-gracious
proprietor of Rock N Bowl, kicked off the evening by having a moment of silence
for Beau Jocque, who had played his final gig at Rock N Bowl the prior Thursday
night. Then Geno started the show with "Cornbread". Later in the
evening, Christine Balfa, of Balfa Toujours, joined the band on stage for a few
songs. Geno played from 9:30 PM to about 2 AM without a break, and put on an
incredible, high energy performance. There were lots of great dance partners in
the crowd and it was quite a party. In the last year, Geno has really matured as
a musician and entertainer, and you can understand why the media goes crazy for
him. He is truly an ambassador for his music and culture these days.
Friday it was time to head out to Lafayette. I never tire of driving over the
causeway that passes over the Henderson Swamp. Seeing the soft reflections of
sunlight, broken up by trees and tree stumps sparkling over the bayou never
fails to take my breath away. After arriving in Lafayette, I decided to have
dinner at Enola Prudhomme’s Cajun Cafe, located halfway between Opelousas and
Lafayette. Enola, after a year’s break, was back in the kitchen, and the meal
I had was fabulous (baked stuffed rabbit). Then it was time to dance. I got to
Downtown Alive at the beginning of C. J. Chenier’s set. The evening was cool
for Louisiana, and the closed off streets were packed. C.J. played a slower and
more traditional set, than I think he typically plays when on tour. The key to
enjoying this event was earplugs and very cushioned shoes for dancing on
concrete.
After CJ, my real troubles began: where to go? where to go? It was an
embarrassment of choices, any of one which would have made my month in San
Francisco. Let’s see, there was Boozoo Chavis at Grant Street Dancehall, Step
Rideau at El Sido’s, Keith Frank at Slim’s, Zydeco Joe at Hamilton’s Club
as well as the annual Krewe de Canaille party at Harry’s Club. I opted to see
Zydeco Joe, one of my favorite musicians, who just the evening before had
received an "Entertainer of the Year" award. (The prior week, he
played with Paul Simon on the Lafayette stop of the Paul Simon/Bob Dylan tour.)
Joe is a great showman and creative accordion player, with a band that really
cooks. Friday night was no exception. Around 2 AM I headed out exhausted, and
the main festival events hadn’t even started yet!
Festival Acadiens kicked off at 11 AM on Saturday morning with Zydeco Joe
playing in the air-conditioned crafts hall. At least 100 dancers showed up, and
entertained the onlookers with their dance moves. Near the dance floor was a
book-signing table. Sitting there were Ben Sandmel, author of Zydeco! and
Elemore Morgan, Jr. photographer for Barry Jean Ancelet’s classic ,
"Cajun and Creole Music Makers’, which has just been updated and
reissued. These are two insightful volumes and must-reads if you want to learn
more about the musical and cultural history of Cajun, Creole and zydeco music.
The rest of the Saturday afternoon was filled up with music by File, Bois Sec
Ardoin, a fiddle workshop tribute to Vermilion Parish Fiddlers with David
Greely (of the Mamou Playboys) and young Beau Thomas of Feu Follet, Balfa
Toujours, the Huval Family/Mamou Family Band, and Jo-El Sonnier. I was
particularly impressed with the Huval’s set, whom I’d never heard before.
Also, if you’ve never been to Festival Acadiens before, you will be amazed by
the quality of the food which is catered by some of the best restaurants in
town, and reasonably priced.
After leaving the festival grounds, it was time to clean up for the
evening... I gave my eternal thanks that evening to whomever invented showers!
The festival grounds can get extremely dusty. They hose down the dance area to
try to keep the dust under control, but this is only of limited value. I was
joking that when I got home, they were going to have to charge me Louisiana
property tax for all the land I was bringing back with me!
There were lots of events to choose from Saturday evening. I decided to start
early and go to Breaux Bridge to see Walter Mouton play at La Poussiere Dance
Hall...which has one of the best dance floors anywhere. A friend from the Bay
Area who used to live in Louisiana was there, and told me a great story about
the place. Seems he used to dance there regularly, when he lived in the area.
One night in exile, he got homesick for the club and called long-distance during
Walter’s set. He had the bartender put the phone on the counter so he could
listen to a song. They announced his phone presence from the bandstand and
everyone applauded. On the night I was there, he went up to Walter to tell him
it was he who was on the phone! Great story!
From La Poussiere, I drove over to Hamilton’s Club to catch the CD release
party for a new band, Sean Ardoin and Zydecool. Sean was the lead singer and
drummer for Chris Ardoin (his brother) and Double Clutchin’ and decided to
head off on his own. He is a showman in the Keith Frank mold, and the sound of
his new band is very similar to Double Clutchin’s, with a funky dance beat.
The band has only been together a few weeks and while they need some polish, I
think they have great potential. Around 1:30AM, I pulled myself away from
Hamilton’s to see if I could catch the last set Keith Frank was playing at
Grant Street. Got there around 1:45 and lucky for me, Keith played until about
2:30AM. I hadn’t seen him for a few trips to Louisiana and I forgot (silly me)
what a dynamic performance he puts on. I finally crashed at 3am.
Sunday, it was slow going. I got to the festival grounds at Girard Park at
around 1pm and headed over to the covered Heritage Pavilion. Steve Riley was
participating in an accordion workshop, demonstrating the different parts of the
instrument, talking about the history of the accordion in Cajun music, and
highlighting the talent of two next generation musicians that shared the stage
with him. Following this session in the Heritage Pavilion, was Preston Frank
(Keith Frank’s father) on accordion, accompanied by Christine Balfa, Kevin
Wimmer and Dirk Powell of Balfa Toujours. He played a traditional Creole music
set that was extremely well received. Next came the much anticipated performance
of The Traiteurs. All through the weekend, local folks were talking about this
Cajun supergroup. Made up of many of the original musicians from Beausoleil,
even the zydeco fanatics were buzzing about the band. I was told the word was
you would either love them or hate them. I loved them! Featuring Sonny Landreth,
Errol Verret, Al Berard and Gary Newman, the band rocked Cajun style. To me they
sounded like a blend of Southern rock a la Allman Brothers, Steve Riley and
Beausoleil, with exquisite musicianship throughout. Near the end of their set, I
had to pull myself away so I could catch the end of Steve Riley’s set on the
Main Stage, which did not disappoint. Closing the festival after the Mamou
Playboys, was, remarkably, a zydeco act: Geno Delafose and French Rockin Boogie,
playing his Creole/Cajun/zydeco brew. Mid-set he brought out members of his
father, John’s, original band, the Eunice Playboys. The music was inspiring
and his reception there, even more so.
Following the festival, was one last evening of multiple choices. Balfa
Toujours was at Whiskey River, File was at Randol’s and at Grant Street was
the Louisiana Stomp, a benefit for the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Fund for
Traditional Music, featuring Cory McCauley and his Evangeline Aces (Cajun) , The
Traiteurs, and Geno Delafose and French Rockin Boogie. I started at Grant Street
to see Cory, then during the auction break dropped in to dance to File, and then
headed back to Grant Street, where Michael Doucet (of BeauSoleil) was sitting in
with The Traiteurs, for an incredible set. Geno came on, and played a really
different set, including somecountry songs, "Please Release Me’, and
"(No-one Knows What Goes On) Behind Closed Doors", some blues and
zydeco. He was accompanied by a saxophone player. Later in the set Christine
Balfa, and Dirk Powell (of Balfa Toujours) and Jimmy Breaux (accordionist for
BeauSoleil) joined him on stage, and the band segued into hard-driving Cajun
rock. I can’t describe to you how exciting the last songs of the evening jam
were, except to say I wanted to stop dancing, and just watch the stage.... it
was that good. The words ‘awesome’ just kept popping out of everyone’s
month. Lucky for us, the show was being recorded, and a benefit CD is being
planned. What was also so interesting this evening was the crowd. Looking around
the club, I saw members of File and Thomas Field’s band as well as Horace
Trajan in attendance. In addition, they announced from the stage that Steve
Riley was also in the house, but I didn’t see him. It was truly an inspiring
evening.
Sadly, the next day I had to go home. At the New Orleans airport, we counted
20 lucky folks from Bay Area who attended this year’s festival, truly a
memorial experience for all.
