Cajun Zydeco Music Festival 2017 live from WWOZ-FM

On Saturday, June 24, 2017, radio station WWOZ-FM will broadcast live and pre-recorded performances by artists at the day’s Cajun Zydeco Festival.  If you’re not in New Orleans, listen via the World Wide Web at http://wwoz.org/.  The schedule is:

2pm- Broadcast will be begin with Jim Hobbs from the station.

2:05- 2:45pm Airing of Les Freres Michot set (recorded earlier)

2:50- 3:40pm Geno Delafose and French Rockin Boogie (Live)

3:45- 4:30pm Airing of Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band (recorded earlier)

4:35- 5:30pm Lost Bayou Ramblers (Live)

5:45-7:00pm D.L. Menard with the Jambalaya Cajun Band (Live)

Sunday will not be broadcast.

 

Zachary Richard on American Routes week of March 11-17, 2015

Nick Spitzer will talk to Cajun poet and musician Zachary Richard and to Richard Thompson on his radio show American Routes this week.  That’s two hours of mostly music with some talk.

 

WXPN-FM Announces 15-Month Long Zydeco Crossroads Project – 2014-15

Philadelphia radio station WXPN-FM has announced a 15-month long exploration of zydeco music.  Writers will include Herman Fuselier, Scott Billington, Ben Sandmel, Nick Spitzer, Tsitsi Jaji, and Jim Hobbs.  Here’s the press release from this week:

Multimedia project will bring significant Zydeco musicians and culture to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (JUNE 17, 2014): Philadelphia public radio station WXPN 88.5 FM will bring the lively music and culture of Zydeco to new audiences in Philadelphia and beyond with its multimedia Zydeco Crossroads project, supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Zydeco Crossroads will present Zydeco music as a living cultural journey while examining its roots and cultural traditions through a 15-month series of concerts, educational events, radio specials, and a new documentary film.

The grant will also support the creation of a new, content-rich website launching in September that will feature exclusive, field-gathered audio and video, music streams, performance footage and regular original contributions from some of the genre’s most accomplished authorities and scholars. Additional events, some of which will be free, and elements to engage audiences such as Zydeco/Cajun dance lessons, film discussions, a sampler CD and more, will also help to illuminate the socioeconomic context of Zydeco and the Creole culture.

“The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage has made it possible for us to bring leading Zydeco artists to Philadelphia and expose them to a wider audience, which will help foster a broader understanding and appreciation of this unique American music,” said WXPN General Manager Roger LaMay. “Our project partnerships with Allons Danser, Philly’s home for Zydeco/Cajun music and dance, the Philadelphia Folksong Society, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia will also access additional audiences who connect to Zydeco in distinct ways.”

LaMay and WXPN Assistant General Manager Bruce Warren are leveraging their experience in developing innovative broadcast series concepts, live event collaborations, and digital content platforms to produce Zydeco Crossroads.

Zydeco is regional music of southwest Louisiana, known for its energetic rhythms driven by lively accordion and rub board instrumentation, joyful dancing and deep roots in Spanish, Creole and Native American cultures that are today being influenced by hip-hop and R&B. These all will be explored by WXPN’s syndicated World Cafe program host David Dye through interviews with prominent Zydeco music figures onsite in Lafayette, Louisiana. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge, known for his previous documentaries about specific musicians and genres, including blues and regional Louisiana music, will join Dye there in order to capture content for a new film that will tell the story of Zydeco, using its musicians as a guide.

Attendees of WXPN’s annual XpoNential Music Festival taking place in Camden, NJ July 25 through July 27 will be introduced to Zydeco Crossroads through displays and takeaway materials, as well as a performance by noted Zydeco artist C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, named by Billboard as “the heir to the Zydeco throne.” A rich schedule of concerts by Zydeco artists and special events will then launch in September and culminate in a Zydeco Crossroads Weekend in late 2015 that will include the screening of the new Robert Mugge documentary film.

More information will be released about Zydeco Crossroads activities and events through Fall 2015. For more information about WXPN, visit http://www.xpn.org.

# # #

ABOUT WXPN

WXPN, the nationally recognized leader in Triple A radio and the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots and folk, is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. WXPN produces World Cafe®, public radio’s most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye and syndicated by NPR, and the Peabody Award-winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O’Connell. WXPN also produces XPoNential Radio on XPN2 stream as its secondary radio channel in HD. WXPN serves the greater Philadelphia area at 88.5 FM, the Lehigh Valley at 104.9, Worton/Baltimore at 90.5 FM, Lancaster/York at 88.7 FM, Harrisburg at 99.7 FM and the world via online streaming at XPN.org.

ABOUT THE PEW CENTER FOR ARTS & HERITAGE

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (the Center), established in 2005, is dedicated to stimulating a vibrant cultural community in the greater Philadelphia region. The Center makes project grants in two areas, Performance and Exhibitions & Public Interpretation, as well as awarding grants to individual artists through our Pew Fellowships. The Center also makes Advancement grants, substantial awards to high-performing organizations seeking to make lasting improvements to their programming, audience engagement, and financial health. Each year, Center funding makes possible numerous performing arts events, as well as history and visual arts exhibitions and other public programs for audiences in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. The Center is also a hub for research and knowledge-sharing on issues critical to cultural practice.

 

Lost Bayou Ramblers on American Routes Oct. 2013

The excellent band the Lost Bayou Ramblers appears on an episode of American Routes called “Singing of Deltas and Bayous: Iris DeMent and Lost Bayou Ramblers.”  Music includes the Ramblers, Clarence “Bon Ton” Garlow, Bonsoir Catin, the Malfecteurs, Nathan Abshire and many more!  Wonderful country/folk singer Iris DeMent is heard in the second hour.

 

American Routes with Cedric Watson Aug. 21-28, 2013

Nick Spitzer’s excellent two-hour music and interview radio program American Routes features Cedric Watson and the late J. J. Cale the week of Aug. 21-28, 2013.  Watson was last featured in July 2011.  As the promotional email says:  “Then we visit with up and coming Creole fiddler and accordionist Cedric Watson and learn about his journey within the world of French and Caribbean music.”  Watson is featured in the second hour, which also includes music by Clifton Chenier, Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole, Fats Domino and Tuts Washington.  Listen in!

 

Lost Bayou Ramblers on American Routes Dec. 2012

The incredibly energetic Cajun music band, the Lost Bayou Ramblers will be featured on this week’s American Routes.  That’s 5 – 12 December 2012.  The playlist includes *lots* of great music, like “Bon Ton Roulet” by Clarence ‘Bon Ton’ Garlow from Zydeco: The Early Years 1961-1962 (Arhoolie),
“Oh Catin” by Bonsoir Catin on En Français: Cajun and Creole Rock and Roll (Bayou Teche Brewing), and “Lucille” by Mike and the Soul Accordion Band on Zodico: Louisiana Creole Music (Rounder) (alas, not on CD!).   The Routes page will default to your local public radio show so you can find out when it’s on.  Listen in!

 

Bonsoir Catin on American Routes July 2012

The excellent radio program American Routes will talk with the excellent Cajun band Bonsoir Catin the week of July 18, 2012.  The band members are Christine Balfa (guitar, daughter of Dewey Balfa of the Balfa Brothers), Kristi Guillory (accordion), Yvette Landry (bass) and Anya Burgess (violin) (all vocals).   The playlist promises the Bonsoir Catin, Balfa Brothers, Belton Richard, Warren Storm, Randy and the Rockets, Coteau, Queen Ida and more.  They are in the second hour of the program.  The first hour features Lovin’ Spoonful founder John Sebastian, an excellent songwriter.

One gripe I have about the link to the show is that it will resolve as a URL for your local public radio station that carries the show.  It’s hard to link just to the show.   Public radio is getting aggressive in its marketing these days.  I for one am not happy about their emulating the commercial entities to which I think they should be an alternative.

 

Radio piece “Zydeco by the bay” by Julie Caine

KALW is a local FM station in the San Francisco area.  The bay area is home to a large community of Creoles from Louisiana and their descendants.  This nine and a half minute radio show talks about that community, who they are, how they got there, and what they’re up to.  Andre Thierry is mentioned prominently as is St. Mark’s Church in Richmond, California, a center of zydeco music.

 

‘Zydeco Nation’ documentary online

Nearly a year ago, we mentioned a grant for the production of a radio documentary on zydeco music in California.   It is now available for listening on the AARP web site and lasts 53 minutes.  It’s got lots of interviews with older folk, many of whom were raised in Louisiana before moving to California.  And there’s the next generation, born in California, but who have enthusiastically adopted the Creole culture around zydeco.  The slider in the audio player lets you move around if needed.  Well worth a listen!

 

 

Floyd Soileau on American Routes Jan. 2012

At the risk of looking like a shill for Nick Spitzer, this week’s American Routes radio show (Jan. 23-29, 2012) includes an interview with Floyd Soileau, the founder of Swallow Records.  Swallow is the most important and biggest Cajun music record label in Louisiana.  The show’s theme is “The Indie Grammphone,” and includes interviews with Soileau and two other independent record label geniuses.  Check the web site for dates and times on your local public radio station.