Artist:BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet
Song:Zydeco Gris-Gris
Album:Make the Veiller
BeauSoleil performs what is known as Cajun music. The music is rooted in the Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana. It's the music of rural Louisiana as opposed to jazz which is urban music. The leader of BeauSoleil is violinist Michael Doucet. He was born Feb. 14, 1951 in Scott, LA. He comes from an informal musical family. As a child, he learned to play banjo and guitar. As a teen, he had a band with another Cajun musician Zachary Richard. After a trip to France, Doucet made the violin his primary instrument. He founded BeauSoleil in 1977 and the band has been recording and touring ever since. The other constant member of BeauSoleil is Doucet's brother David Doucet on guitar. Beausoleil has recorded for several different labels including Swallow, Arhoolie, Rounder and Rhino. Zydeco Gris-Gris is from the 1986 album Bayou Boogie on Rounder. The album is a mix of traditional and original songs. Doucet wrote Zydeco Gris-Gris and several other songs. Doucet also produced, played violin and mandolin and sang. Other musicians are David Doucet on guitar, Errol Verret on accordion, Steve Conn on piano, Russell Keyes on bass, Tommy Alesi on drums and Billy Ware on percussion. There is a comp of the Rounder recordings. But with this kind of music, you don't need to have original recordings. So I recommend the 2009 album Make the Veiller on Fuel 2000. This is a live recording and it comes with a bonus DVD and is available as a budget CD. It's a greatest hits live album. Along with Michael and David Doucet, musicians are Jimmy Breaux on accordion, Mitch Reed on bass, Tommy Alesi on drums and Billy Ware on percussions. It looks like they last recorded in 2013. But BeauSoleil continues to tour the festival circuit. Here's BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet performing Zydeco Gris-Gris on a 2013 episode of the PBS TV series Bluegrass Underground. You should be able to watch the entire episode on the PBS website.
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