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Zydeco / Cajun Music
If it's Cajun, Louisiana country blues, Zydeco that you want,
Clifton Chenier's the man. See below for recommended CDs and books.
|  "What
I did was to put a little rock'n'roll into the zydeco
to mix it up a bit. You see, people been playing zydeco
for a long time, old style, like French music. But I
was the first one to put the pep to it."
Clifton Chenier
Louisiana in general and the melting pot
of New Orleans in particular have exerted a tremendous
influence on world music as a whole. Cajun and Zydeco
are truly world fusion, and definitely a good ingredient
for the pot when thinking of the big picture of world
music. |
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The frottoir
is an improved washboard first made by Willie Landry, a master
welder/metal fabricator, according to a drawing in the dirt
made by Clifton Chenier. Clifton's brother Cleveland was the
first to strap the rippled armor plate on his chest in the fashion
that all zydeco musicians wear the instrument today. Willie
Landry's son, T. Don Landry, is still carrying on the tradition,
making and playing the frottoir for various Zydeco heavyweights.
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©
1996-2008 Eric Stuer