Beausoleil Cooks Up Spicy Cajun Flavors
Down on the Mississippi Delta, where the music is as rich as the soil, BeauSoleil is considered King of the Cajun Hill.
On the Delta, African American, American Indian, French Canadian, Caribbean and Anglo cultures came together and created a soulful gumbo of blues, jazz, funk, rock, country, Zydeco and Cajun music.
All of it has worked its way northward, and some has suffered for the transition, mutating into barely recognizable forms.
But when it comes to Cajun, a handful of bands still work the rich traditions. And among them, Louisiana’s BeauSoleil is known as the greatest.
BeauSoleil plays music so complex it seems to embrace all the human emotions, yet is so simple and earthy it can rearrange a sour attitude and set sullen feet to dancing.
BeauSoleil renews their acquaintance with Spokane tonight at the Masonic Temple, where there will be lots of room to dance, and beer and wine for those who need liquid encouragement, though most don’t when BeauSoleil comes to town.
Although some people feel that traditional music is not meant to be tampered with, BeauSoleil comes from the school that considers music organic; they’re not afraid to put their own stamp on tradition. And they add to it by writing original material. Even so, when BeauSoleil set out to record last year’s “L’Echo,” they focused on pieces that date to the ‘20s and ‘30s.
“Although I continue to write new songs,” said BeauSoleil’s fiddle-playing leader, Michael Doucet, “our legacy of traditional songs seems to get smaller with the passing of each Cajun music pioneer. It was my intention to spotlight some of our forgotten musical leaders and their rare performances rather than record well-worn crowd pleasers. This collection rekindles past musical inspirations for a simpler time.
“With ‘L’Echo,’ we’re just trying to say, ‘This is how we live, this is our culture, this is our music.’ We’re not trying to change the tradition, but to preserve it and keep it alive and contemporary for generations to come.”
So perhaps in addition to their own, deep repertoire, BeauSoleil’s show Thursday will be sprinkled with the music of Dennis McGee, Ernest Fruge, Amede Breaux (grandfather of BeauSoleil’s accordion player, Jimmy Breaux), Freeman Fontenot, the Alley Boys and other Cajun pioneers.
It almost doesn’t matter whose songs they play, though - BeauSoleil does it all in grand fashion. Doucet’s spectacular fiddle is bolstered by guitar, Acadian accordion, bass, banjo, percussion and drums, and the music ranges from jubilant and joyful to the kind of pensive soulfulness that seems to come directly from Louisiana swamps.
By turns they play with quiet restraint and unbridled exuberance, but always with the kind of mastery that impresses the toughest audience - other musicians.
“If I played fiddle,” Keith Richards told Doucet, “I’d play just like you.”
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story:< CONCERT INFO BeauSoleil will perform today at 8 p.m. at Spokane’s Masonic Temple. General admission tickets are $13 ($14 at door) and are available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets. Must be 21 years old to attend.