What is Cajun?
Cajun
music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of
the French-speaking Catholics of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned
in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced Zydeco form, both of
Acadiana origin. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American
popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have
influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television
commercials.
The unaccompanied ballad was the earliest form of
Cajun music. The narrative songs often had passionate themes of death,
solitude or ill-fated love — a reaction to their harsh exile and
rough frontier experience, as well as celebrations of love and humorous
tales. Ballads were ritually sung at weddings and funerals, and sung
informally for small groups of people at house parties as the food
cooked and young children played.
Standard versions of songs
started to emerge with increasing sales of phonographs. Some of the
earliest recordings of Cajun music that exist were done in the late
1920s by noted historian Alan Lomax of farmhands in Louisiana.
In
1928, the first recorded Cajun song was "Allons à Lafayette" by
Joe Falcon and Cleoma Breaux. The early songs were mixtures of la la,
contredanses, reels and jigs and other folk influences from black,
white and Native American traditions. Early song lyrics were entirely
in old Cajun French. Though French language is still common, some Cajun
music today is sung in English with younger singers and audiences.
In
earlier years, the fiddle was the predominant instrument. Usually two
fiddles were common, one playing the melody while the other provided
the séconde, or back-up part. Twin fiddling traditions represent
the music in its purest form, as it was brought to Louisiana with the
early immigrants and before popular American tunes mingled with it.
Gradually,
the diatonic accordion emerged to share the limelight. The introduction
of the accordion can be traced back to German Coast settlers.
In
the early 1930s, the accordion was pushed into the background by the
popular string sounds of the time. Mandolins, pianos and banjos joined
fiddles to create a jazzy swing beat strongly influenced by Western
Swing of neighboring Texas.
After World War II, the accordion
regained its popularity in Cajun music. Also, in the late 1930s and
1940s, country music became the dominant influence on Cajun music, and
bass and steel guitars were used.
Modern Cajun music began
taking on the influence of jazz and modern country music, resulting in
a more polished sound. The acoustic guitar was added, mostly as a
rhythm instrument, and the triangle provided a traditional percussion.
Modern groups sometimes include drums, electric bass, electric guitars
and amplified accordion and fiddles.
A performance by Dewey
Balfa, Gladius Thibodeaux and Vinus LeJeune at the 1964 Newport Folk
Festival was one major reason behind a revived interest in traditional
Cajun music in the mid 1960s. In 1972, the Council for the Development
of French in Louisiana started an annual festival that came to be known
as Festivals Acadiens.
A new respect for Cajun culture developed
in the 1990s. Among the most well-known Cajun bands outside of
Louisiana is the multi-Grammy-winning Beausoleil, who have joined
several country music artists in the studio, and served as an
inspiration to the Mary Chapin Carpenter hit, Down at the Twist and
Shout.
Cajun music, born from ballads, has transformed to dance
music -- with or without words. The music was essential for small
get-togethers on the front porch, an all night house dance known as a
"bal de maison", or a public dance in a dance hall called a fais do-dos.
There
are several variations of Cajun dance: a Cajun One Step, also called a
Cajun Jig, a Cajun Two Step or related Cajun Jitterbug, and a Cajun
Waltz. In mild contrast, Zydeco is a syncopated two-step or jitterbug.
A Cajun dancer will cover the dance floor while the Zydeco dancer will
primarily dance in a smaller area.
Cajun music can be found predominantly at Louisiana festivals and dance halls, in addition to weddings in Acadiana.
