History
Zydeco in New England
by Bernard Ussher
Founder of Boston Zydeco
The local origins to Cajun and Zydeco in New England can be traced to Rhode Island, where a number of local dances and festivals sprang up about 20 years ago. A local Cajun band called Magnolia grew out of this and is still playing Cajun music today. They hold monthly dances in Seekonk, MA.
Cajun and Zydeco music and dance festivals have been held in various places in RI and CT. The biggest ones today include “Blast from the Bayou” in June in Moodus, CT, “Rhythm ‘n Roots” in September in Ninigret, RI. And in April there is always a Zydeco band and dancing at the New England Folk Festival in Mansfield as well as at the Lowell Folk Festival in July.
Locally, a band called Grand Bois had a monthly gig playing Cajun music in Belmont and later in Arlington. I attended some Cajun dance lessons and this got me started approximately in 1996.
The following summer I went to a few festivals — Stepping Stone Ranch in RI, for one, and the first Ninigret — I was hooked thereafter. The Cajun dance scene dropped off after a few years. George Teshu, a local Arlington artist, got the first few Zydeco dances going, but that effort eventually petered out.
Sometime around 1999, I met Anne Stork at a contra dance in NH. I asked her if she would play in Boston.
“You organize, then I’ll come,” she said.
So the following November, I organized the first dance for Boston Zydeco and it was a great success: over 100 dancers showed up. Later we invited the Zydeco Hogs and Slippery Sneakers to come perform — and Planet Zydeco, a new band from Vermont, made their debut here in Boston.
From the start, Boston Zydeco has always offered a free dance lesson at the beginning of each dance as well as a pot luck that often includes native Louisiana fare, such as gumbo and jambalaya. (I actually cooked jambalaya for the Geno Delafose band — and they loved it!!)
Boston Zydeco has expanded to include visiting Louisiana bands. So far we have hosted the following bands: Dexter Ardoin, Leroy Thomas, Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie, Roy Carrier and Dikki Du.
Today Boston Zydeco hosts a monthly dance with a live band on the 4th Saturday of each month, usually at the Knights of Columbus in Arlington center. A winter dance lesson series is held from January to March at the Elks on Spy Pond in Arlington.
Where did Zydeco come from?
The Cajuns are descendants of the Acadians, who were among the early settlers of the state of Louisiana. The Acadians were French settlers in what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Isle de Prince Edward, who were driven from their homes by the British in 1775. Around 1764 the Acadians began making their way down the Atlantic coast, settling in Louisiana. Today there are almost a million French-speaking Acadians living in Louisiana, still practicing many of the customs of their French ancestors.
Zydeco is a form of American “roots” music that hails from Southwest Louisiana, primarily from the black Creole communities around Opelousas, Ville Platte and Lafayette. The music has roots in these rural communities and shows influences from soul, R&B and Cajun music.
Usually fast-tempo, and dominated by the button accordion and a rub-board or frottoir, Zydeco music was originally created for house dances so the blacks and free people of color of south Louisiana could gather for socializing. Later it spread to local dance halls, community centers and nightclubs. The music can be found in all these locales today as well as spread out around the U.S. and overseas.
Besides blues and rock and roll, this dance music incorporates two-steps, shuffles and waltzes. Clifton Chenier was among the first to achieve prominence in the Zydeco music world. Other well regarded musicians are Boozoo Chavis, Dennis McGee and John Delafose.
Today, due to the migration of the French-speaking blacks and multiracial Creoles, mixing of Cajun and Creole musicians, and the warm embrace of people from outside these cultures, there are multiple hotbeds of Zydeco: Louisiana, Texas, California and even Europe — as far North as Scandinavia.
It is a genre that has become synonymous with the cultural and musical identity of Louisiana and an important part of the music landscape of this country as one black southern music tradition that is loved worldwide. It is performed for presidents and celebrities, seen in film and heard advertising everything from autos to toothpaste to antacids, pharmaceuticals and candy bars. Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine and dozens of other print media have featured it. It is heard on radio all over the world. It’s performed at festivals, schools, performing art centers and large corporate events.
In 2007, the National Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences added a new Grammy Award Category. Cajun and Zydeco music has always been included in the “Folk” categories (Traditional Folk and Contemporary Folk). But thanks to the efforts of Terrance and Cynthia Simien of the Memphis Grammy Chapter and many, many others, the rich music of Louisiana now has its own Grammy category.