Last weekend Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble kicked off the Philadelphia launch of Zydeco Crossroads with a live concert and dance party at the Kimmel Center. Curley did an interview with Stephanie Renée, host of the radio show The Mojo and the The Recharge on 900AM-WURD. Listen to the interview here.
Forget boughs of holly; take a cue from C.J. Chenier and “deck the halls with cayenne pepper” and this playlist of zydeco and other Louisiana holiday tunes. In this first installment of Zydeco Crossroads’ Holiday Mixtape you’ll find seasonal songs by Cupid, Aaron Neville, Kermit Ruffins and more. Listen below and check back next week for more. Read more
To round out their Sense of Place: Lafayette special, World Cafe dug into the archives and pulled out an interview with Louisiana musician Bobby Charles. Growing up twenty miles south of Lafayette in Abbeville, LA, Charles grew up surrounded by early forms of Cajun music that he would go on to modernize. Read more.
Michael Doucet (of Beausoleil) sat down with World Cafe’s David Dye for an interview during Sense of Place: Lafayette. The Louisiana musician and university professor covered a multitude of topics during the session, including the history of Creole and Cajun cultures in Southwest Louisiana. Read more.
Latin Roots is World Cafe‘s periodic in-depth look at the traditional music of Latin countries and their place in contemporary genres. On this special edition, KRVS’s Diego Martin Perez, host of La Vellonera on the Lafayette radio station, discusses the cross-section of cajun, zydeco and Latin music revolving around the accordion. Read more.
Sean Ardoin took some time to talk with XPN’s Bob Bumbera while the World Cafe team was in Lafayette a few weeks ago. The Creole United and Zydekool musician talked about the essence of zydeco and explained why the music demands your attention. Read more.
On a recent trip to Layfayette, Louisiana, we had a chance to talk with Michael Tisserand, the New Orleans based writer and author of an essential book about Zydeco, The Kingdom of Zydeco, during which he discussed the difference between zydeco and cajun music in both roots and purpose. Read more.