Track Listing

1. Pont de Vue - Fil�
2. Acadie � la Louisiane - Ray Charles
3. Let's Dance Two-Step - Al Berard, Errol Verret
4. Jolie Bassette - Charivari
5. Beau Geste - Hadley J. Castille
6. Corner Post - Mamou Playboys, Steve Riley
7. Oranger - Marce Lacouture
8. Tracas de Todd Balfa - Balfa Toujours
9. Balfa Waltz - David Doucet
10. Hey la Bas - Pott Folse
11. Lafayette Breakdown - Cajun Playboys
12. Flammes d'Enfer - Jambalaya

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15306 in Music
• Released on: 2001-01-09
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Forming a trilogy of sound with 1999's Putumayo releases Louisiana Gumbo and Zydeco (one of the label's biggest sellers of all time), Putumayo Presents Cajun may prove redundant for serious enthusiasts of the genre yet is an excellent starting point for newer listeners. Southwestern Louisiana Cajun culture, born of the French Acadians displaced when their homeland was taken over by the British in the mid-1700s, is celebrated for both its food and its music. The tunes are often folk ballads, lullabies, and dance music like waltzes or two-steps. Cajun music is related to but distinct from zydeco; both feature the accordion as lead instrument, but the latter incorporates electric guitar and pays a greater debt to rhythm & blues than does the older-fashioned acoustic stylings of the former. To that end, there is still a great deal of room for an influx of influences in Cajun music, such as the country flavor of the Jambalaya Cajun Band's version of the popular "Les Flammes d'en Fer" as it appears on this collection. David Doucet, of Beausoleil, one of the genre's better-known groups, contributes a bluegrassy version of "Balfa Waltz," one of several of the compilation's references to Cajun music great Dewey Balfa and his family of players. Doucet's turn here features guitar in the lead and the appearance of Josh Graves on Dobro. Elsewhere there is a great deal of fiddle-accordion pairings in the traditional manner of the style, with bits of Texas swing, Creole, and zydeco to spice it all up quite handsomely. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews

Not a bad collection.
Putumayo's collections are hard to predict; some of them are outstanding, some mediocre. This one falls somewhere in the middle. Most of the bands on here are "modern" Cajun bands: Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Balfa Toujours, Charivari, David Doucet (of Beausoleil). These are all excellent bands; the song selections from them seem a little odd though. For example, why is the version of the Balfa Waltz (one of Cajun music's most beautiful song) performed by David Doucet, a guitar player, instead of Balfa Toujours (led by Christine Balfa, whose uncle wrote the song), or the Balfa Brothers themselves? Why are all of the bands here modern, why not include a few tracks from the Balfa Brothers, Nathan Abshire, Wade Fruge', Dennis McGee or other venerable Cajun musicians?

This isn't a bad collection, but it's a relatively random sampling of mostly modern acts. Most of the songs are not major parts of the Cajun repertoire, but nor are they long-lost gems, they seem to just be random picks. Enjoy it for what it is, but there are better Cajun collections out there.

CAJUN ACADIAN MUSIC
This is a great collection of cajun music. I recommend this to anyone who likes Cajun music or Acadian music. There is everything to like about every piece in this CD.

Cajun Music to Make You Dance in the Kitchen
My family just loves the upbeat style of the music on this CD. It's real "get up and dance" music. The musicians are exceptionally talented, the tunes are familiar, and the CD quality is perfect.

Highly recommended for Cajun and Zydeco music lovers.