Not long ago Cajun culture in Louisiana seemed on the verge of collapse.
”The kids (in my parents` generation) were beaten for speaking French,” explains Zachary Richard. ”They grew up believing that French was the equivalent of ignorance and poverty. I was never exposed to that, but I was never exposed to Cajun culture either.”
Richard`s experience was typical of the generation that grew up in Louisiana after World War II. Then something remarkable happened. The music, food and, to some extent, even the language of the spirited Acadian or Cajun people made a comeback. This renaissance owed much to a handful of young performers and preservationists, including Richard, who set out to rediscover their roots and in the process introduced the world to a unique and beautiful culture.
”I believe that there`s something about the culture that refused to die,” says Richard. ”I don`t think there were particular individuals who were responsible for it. We were just the vehicle. There`s a tremendous emotion there. It`s so deep and so old. It`s in the blood. When I went to Nova Scotia, which is the homeland of the Acadian people, it was like being struck by lightning. It really changed my life. We all had that same experience in one way or another. We didn`t learn that because we had been really assimilated. It was just there.”
Richard formed one of the very first Cajun-rock groups, the Bayou Drifter Band, in the early `70s. (Michael Doucet, leader of the acclaimed Beausoleil, was an early member of the band.) He next spent several years performing mainly in France and French-speaking Canada, where several of his first eight albums went gold. Richard, who has been dubbed ”the Cajun Mick Jagger,” now stands on the verge of a breakthrough in America thanks to regular appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, U.S. releases on Rounder Records and now a major label debut, ”Women in the Room,” and a two-month major-venue tour with Jimmy Buffett.
”There`s a lot of different things coming together,” says Richard.
”You just have to witness the success of Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, even songwriters like John Hiatt. We`re all involved in American roots music. Cajun and zydeco are just the last of the bunch. It`s music that up until recently has been obscure, and that makes it hip. The style itself is very infectious. It`s very simple music, easy to dance to. It`s fun music and very joyous. I think people need that in the 1990s.”
Richard`s new album reveals a performer in many ways just coming into his own. Like others of his generation, he has roots not only in Cajun music but also in rock `n` roll. Though a staunch supporter of Cajun culture, he also uses jazz, New Orleans R&B, zydeco, blues, Caribbean and African music. Richard`s new album is perhaps his most assured mix of these various strains and reveals his growing strength as a songwriter and storyteller.
”When I recorded the first two albums for Rounder, it was very important to present a clear image. I`d gone from country and western to jazz to island music, so I wanted to define myself a little more clearly. On `Zack`s Bon Ton,` you had Cajun music and zydeco. With `Mardi Gras Mambo,` it was Mardi Gras and New Orleans music. With `Women in the Room,` the concept was the song itself. It took me 15 years to find this, so I think I want to explore it for a long time. I`m not a traditional musician; I`m not a Cajun musician. I`ve been influenced by all the south Louisiana styles, but I would hope that I won`t be limited by those styles. This new album is the synthesis that I`ve been attempting to perform between Cajun music and roots rock `n` roll. It`s like Janus, looking forward and looking back at the same time.”
Zachary Richard opens for Jimmy Buffett Saturday at the World Music Theatre.
Other shows of note
Steve Wynn and the Sidewinders, Friday at Cabaret Metro: This late show is opened by the Sidewinders, an energetic, jangly alternative guitar pop band. They would be the highlight of the evening if it weren`t for the presence of Steve Wynn. The former leader of the Dream Syndicate recently released a new solo album, ”Kerosene Man,” that easily outstrips his work with his old group. Its bristly, dense sound and ideas make most of today`s rock releases seem weak, watery and fairly dimwitted in comparison.
American Music Festival, Friday through Sunday and Tuesday at FitzGerald`s: In what has become one of the nicer musical traditions of the 4th of July holiday, FitzGerald`s presents this annual music fest, which focuses on American jazz, blues and cajun/zydeco sounds. Performers include Chicago`s Kinsey Report; C.J. Chenier (son of zydeco king Clifton) and the Red Hot Louisiana Band; Cajun dance band File; the Dixieland-style Memphis Nighthawks; and ace Louisiana slide player Sonny Landreth (whose credits include work with John Hiatt, Beausoleil and Zachary Richard) and his band, the Goners.
Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sunday at Poplar Creek: The ”Live It Up” tour
(which takes its name from CSN`s new album) features the `60s light-rock veterans with a five-piece backup band and the most elaborate staging the group has used on tour. A few songs from the new record will pop up, but expect mostly old CSN favorites.
Paul Shaffer and the World`s Most Dangerous Band, Monday at the Riviera:
Hear just what Letterman`s band plays during all those commercials.
Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb, Monday and Tuesday at the World Music Theatre: Depeche Mode is definitely on the upswing. The group`s surprisingly bluesy ”Personal Jesus” became its first gold U.S. single, and ”Enjoy the Silence” its first single in the Top 20 since 1985. Though the band falls back on bouncy techno-pop noodling with an all-too-predictable regularity, there is truth to its claim to be doing music with greater complexity and meaning now.
Chaba Fadela, Tuesday at the Cubby Bear: One of the more unusual styles to have emerged from the growing world music scene is Algerian rai music. It`s a powerful, danceable and hypnotic amalgam of Islamic melodic structures, sub- Saharan African rhythms, international dance pop production and rock`s cheeky rebelliousness. Chaba Fadela is rai`s biggest star (largely on the strength of her classic ”You Are Mine”), and her new album is another step forward in the development of the international pop-rai sound.
Anita Baker and Perri, Wednesday at the World Music Theatre: The queen of sophisticated retro-nuevo jazzy pop soul is in the midst of her first world tour. On earlier dates, her set list featured only songs from her first two albums. But with the release of the new ”Compositions” LP and a first single, ”Talk to Me,” already climbing the charts, that could change. Perri, a four-sister pop-jazz act that has worked extensively with Baker, also has a new album on the way. Perri opens the show and then provides vocal support during Baker`s set.
Chris Thomas, Thursday at Lounge Ax: Critics keep referring to Thomas as a blues player, but he fits more comfortably somewhere in between the hard funk rock of Living Colour and the contemporary soul of Terence Trent D`Arby. If all the hosannas that have greeted his second album, ”Cry of the Prophets,” are any indication, this may be the only opportunity to see him in such an intimate setting.
John Scofield Quartet and Fareed Haque, Thursday at Ravinia: It`s been a delight watching-and listening to-Scofield mature in recent years from a hard- nosed, hard-bop enthusiast into a looser, more emotional artist who adds subtle jazz, blues and fusion shadings to his work. Apparently many people think so. His new Blue Note album, ”Time on my Hands,” hit No. 1 on the jazz charts. Chicagoan Fareed Haque opens and later engages in a little ”battle of the young guitar lions” with Scofield.
