From 'La La Music' to Zydeco
Terrance Simien Reflects on Music's Roots
October 18, 2014
by Otisha Paige
Daily World
Before World War II, when the word "zydeco" was common in Louisiana, people called it "la la music."
Two-time Grammy winner Terrance Simien, a native of Mallet, has traced the history of this music and introduced it to rising generations.
The quaint studio nestled behind his house in Broussard indicates that he is all about zydeco. Alongside dual keyboards are paintings of women in African villages and a textile map of the continent. Although Simien maintains that Africa influenced the music he loves, he admits that no one really knows where zydeco came from.
"Folklore says it originated from 'les haricots sont pas sale,' a song by Clifton Chenier meaning 'the snap beans are not salty,'" Simien said as he reclined in a chair.
It is a phrase about hard times, when a family couldn't afford even a tiny piece of salted fatback to flavor their beans.
The musician doesn't buy into the "snap beans" theory, even though he says the phrase sheds light on the economic hardships earlier generations of Creoles faced.
He's more intrigued with zydeco's African connections. Simien said that when was performing in Congo, a woman approached him and said, "It sounds like the African phrase for dance, 'zai'co laga laga, zariko, zari."
He believes it's possible that the phrase morphed into zydeco.
"We were never taught to speak African in Louisiana," Simien joked.
When Creoles began to play zydeco, they sang all the lyrics in French. The music became a platform to tell stories without the pizzazz of elaborate musical instruments. An earlier song form, juré, evolved from field hollers shared during slavery days, Simien said.
"Juré was a celebration," he said. "After work or on their day off, people would dance around a fire as they stood in a circle and 'testify' in French."
Hand clapping and foot stamping were important components of juré music, and some historians believe that the offbeat rhythms found in this style influenced the beats in zydeco. Simien shared that there is no physical documentation for the beginnings of juré music, but a listener could clearly pick up on the African, Native American and Creole influences.
Alan Lomax, a folklorist who recorded these sounds for the Library of Congress, said it "was the most African sound he'd found in America," during the 1930s.
A highlight of an Oct. 9 concert celebrating the Lomax recordings at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette included zydeco musician Jeffrey Broussard and his sisters performing juré with only their voices, hands and feet and a wooden box as a rhythm instrument.
Distinct in style, Simien said, "With Creole music like that, you'd swear you were in another culture."
Accordion master Amédé Ardoin extended that culture into the 20th century as one of the first musicians to record Creole music.
Ardoin, who lived from 1898 to 1942, "is the bedrock of Cajun and Creole music," said Darrell Bourque, former Louisiana Poet Laureate. Bourque honored Ardoin's musical impact in his latest work, "If you abandon me-comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook."
"I love his contributions to music and his contributions to the culture," Bourque said.
Before video games and TV, Creoles entertained themselves with a "house dance where the furniture would be moved outside into the yard so that there would be enough room inside to have an afternoon or a late Saturday night dance," Simien said.
Many of the musicians they hired to play those dances went on to become stars in the genre. Boozoo Chavis, who trained horses when he wasn't playing music, recorded the first zydeco song — "Paper in my Shoe" — in 1954 and continued to tour until he died 15 years ago at age 71.
Chenier expanded the music's reach and put Opelousas on the map as the World Capitol of Zydeco Music. His recordings and live performances fused blues, rock-n-roll and zydeco in the 1950s and '60s. He was the first zydeco musician to amplify his band and added the rubboard as a rhythm instrument.
"He created his own style of contemporary zydeco music by blending the old with the new," Simien said of the musician crowned "The King of Zydeco" before his death in 1987.
Pride in tradition and heritage help to explain why zydeco has developed such staying power with international audiences and established itself as a key element of Louisiana's tourism economy.
"Zydeco does different things to different people," Simien said in his studio, where the walls are hung with his framed CD releases.
"You can see it all over people as they're dancing," he said. "It's something that makes us Creoles different."
Zydeco music is "a strong medicine," he added. "It took something strong to make them forget all that and showed that it was something different in the world besides slavery and Jim Crow."
"Life is about moving forward," Simien said.
The next wave of zydeco musicians advance the music by incorporating hip hop, reggae and other musical genres. One recording by Sean Ardoin, a descendant of Amédé Ardoin, includes lyrics from Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and Janelle Monae's "Tightrope."
Simien, whose band The Zydeco Experience won a Grammy for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008, is helping to ensure that younger generations know and appreciate the music. In 2001 he created "Creole for Kidz" and "The History of Zydeco" to educate youngsters. To date that program reached more than a million students, parents and educators at schools, art centers and festivals around the world.
Terrance Simien Reflects on Music's Roots
October 18, 2014
by Otisha Paige
Daily World
 |
Zydeco musician Terrance Simien performs a tune on his accordion.
(Photo: Freddie Herpin/The Daily World )
|
Two-time Grammy winner Terrance Simien, a native of Mallet, has traced the history of this music and introduced it to rising generations.
The quaint studio nestled behind his house in Broussard indicates that he is all about zydeco. Alongside dual keyboards are paintings of women in African villages and a textile map of the continent. Although Simien maintains that Africa influenced the music he loves, he admits that no one really knows where zydeco came from.
"Folklore says it originated from 'les haricots sont pas sale,' a song by Clifton Chenier meaning 'the snap beans are not salty,'" Simien said as he reclined in a chair.
It is a phrase about hard times, when a family couldn't afford even a tiny piece of salted fatback to flavor their beans.
The musician doesn't buy into the "snap beans" theory, even though he says the phrase sheds light on the economic hardships earlier generations of Creoles faced.
He's more intrigued with zydeco's African connections. Simien said that when was performing in Congo, a woman approached him and said, "It sounds like the African phrase for dance, 'zai'co laga laga, zariko, zari."
He believes it's possible that the phrase morphed into zydeco.
"We were never taught to speak African in Louisiana," Simien joked.
When Creoles began to play zydeco, they sang all the lyrics in French. The music became a platform to tell stories without the pizzazz of elaborate musical instruments. An earlier song form, juré, evolved from field hollers shared during slavery days, Simien said.
"Juré was a celebration," he said. "After work or on their day off, people would dance around a fire as they stood in a circle and 'testify' in French."
Hand clapping and foot stamping were important components of juré music, and some historians believe that the offbeat rhythms found in this style influenced the beats in zydeco. Simien shared that there is no physical documentation for the beginnings of juré music, but a listener could clearly pick up on the African, Native American and Creole influences.
Alan Lomax, a folklorist who recorded these sounds for the Library of Congress, said it "was the most African sound he'd found in America," during the 1930s.
A highlight of an Oct. 9 concert celebrating the Lomax recordings at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette included zydeco musician Jeffrey Broussard and his sisters performing juré with only their voices, hands and feet and a wooden box as a rhythm instrument.
Distinct in style, Simien said, "With Creole music like that, you'd swear you were in another culture."
Accordion master Amédé Ardoin extended that culture into the 20th century as one of the first musicians to record Creole music.
Ardoin, who lived from 1898 to 1942, "is the bedrock of Cajun and Creole music," said Darrell Bourque, former Louisiana Poet Laureate. Bourque honored Ardoin's musical impact in his latest work, "If you abandon me-comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook."
"I love his contributions to music and his contributions to the culture," Bourque said.
Before video games and TV, Creoles entertained themselves with a "house dance where the furniture would be moved outside into the yard so that there would be enough room inside to have an afternoon or a late Saturday night dance," Simien said.
Many of the musicians they hired to play those dances went on to become stars in the genre. Boozoo Chavis, who trained horses when he wasn't playing music, recorded the first zydeco song — "Paper in my Shoe" — in 1954 and continued to tour until he died 15 years ago at age 71.
Chenier expanded the music's reach and put Opelousas on the map as the World Capitol of Zydeco Music. His recordings and live performances fused blues, rock-n-roll and zydeco in the 1950s and '60s. He was the first zydeco musician to amplify his band and added the rubboard as a rhythm instrument.
"He created his own style of contemporary zydeco music by blending the old with the new," Simien said of the musician crowned "The King of Zydeco" before his death in 1987.
Pride in tradition and heritage help to explain why zydeco has developed such staying power with international audiences and established itself as a key element of Louisiana's tourism economy.
"Zydeco does different things to different people," Simien said in his studio, where the walls are hung with his framed CD releases.
"You can see it all over people as they're dancing," he said. "It's something that makes us Creoles different."
Zydeco music is "a strong medicine," he added. "It took something strong to make them forget all that and showed that it was something different in the world besides slavery and Jim Crow."
"Life is about moving forward," Simien said.
The next wave of zydeco musicians advance the music by incorporating hip hop, reggae and other musical genres. One recording by Sean Ardoin, a descendant of Amédé Ardoin, includes lyrics from Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and Janelle Monae's "Tightrope."
Simien, whose band The Zydeco Experience won a Grammy for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008, is helping to ensure that younger generations know and appreciate the music. In 2001 he created "Creole for Kidz" and "The History of Zydeco" to educate youngsters. To date that program reached more than a million students, parents and educators at schools, art centers and festivals around the world.
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