Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album
Encyclopedia
The Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists at the 50th
, 51st
, 52nd
and 53rd Grammy Awards
(2008–2011) for quality zydeco
or cajun music
albums. The Grammy Award
s, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
Beginning in 2001, advocates began lobbying for a Grammy category specifically for cajun and zydeco music. Award recipients, in chronological order, included Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
, BeauSoleil
avec Michael Doucet
, Buckwheat Zydeco
, and Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
; no artist received the award more than once. Awards were presented to the engineers
, mixers
, and/or producers
in addition to the performing artists. The group Pine Leaf Boys
holds the record for the most nominations, with four. Though nominated each year the honor was presented, the group failed to receive an award. Doucet and Cedric Watson
each received three nominations. 2009 marked the only year in which a musician received more than one nomination as well as the only time two artists were nominated for works appearing on the same album—Doucet was nominated as a member of BeauSoleil for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
as well as for his solo album From Now On, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
were also nominated for their contribution to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival compilation album
. Many nominated artists were from Louisiana
, specifically Lafayette
.
In 2011, the Academy announced the retirement of the award category. Beginning in 2012, zydeco or cajun recordings will be eligible for the Best Regional Roots Music Album
category.
and cajun music
. The effort was led by musician Terrance Simien
, along with his wife and manager Cynthia. Mitch Landrieu
, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
at the time, also supported the effort. Cynthia, a trustee of the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy, claimed hundreds of dollars and hours were invested in the lobbying effort she described as an "uphill battle". Prior to the Best Zydeco or Cajun Music category, works in the genre competed in the Best Contemporary Folk Album
or Best Traditional Folk Album
categories.
(2008), Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album nominees included Geno Delafose
& French Rockin' Boogie for Le Cowboy Creole, Lisa Haley for King Cake, The Lost Bayou Ramblers for Live: Á La Blue Moon, the French language cajun band Pine Leaf Boys
for their second album Blues de Musicien, Racines for Racines, Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars for The La Louisianne Sessions, and Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
for Live! Worldwide
. Of the seven nominees, only one was based outside Lafayette, Louisiana
. Le Cowboy Creole, Delafose's fifth album, contained cover version
s of Chuck Berry
's "Promised Land
", the Commodores
' "Easy", The Everly Brothers
' "When Will I Be Loved
", Ronnie Milsap
's "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me
", and Van Morrison
's "Domino
". Blues de Musician included a French adaptation of the country music
song "The Wild Side of Life
". Live! Worldwide contained recordings of live performances from around the world during Simien's 25-year career, including "The Star-Spangled Banner
" and traditional songs such as "Zydeco Boogaloo" and Boozoo Chavis
' "Uncle Bud". Simien and the Zydeco Experience performed as the opening act to the pre-telecast for the 50th Grammy Awards ceremony. The award was presented to Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, members of which included Jose Alvarez, Ralph Fontenot, Keith Sonnier, William Terry, and Danny Williams. Joshua Murrell was also recognized as the engineer and producer of the album. Simien was described as "exuberant" during his acceptance speech in which he acknowledged the five other nominees. Simien and his band were also honored by Billboard
, which ranked their live performance in support of the album as one of the top ten acts of the year.
2009
nominees included BeauSoleil
avec Michael Doucet
for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
, Michael Doucet for From Now On, Pine Leaf Boys
for Homage Au Passé, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Cedric Watson
for Cedric Watson. Doucet, the founder, lead singer and fiddler of BeauSoleil, is the only artist to receive more than one nomination for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album within the same year. According to Doucet, From Now On was recorded "live in three sessions with no rehearsals, overdubs, or song lists." The album contains original tracks, covers by Hoagy Carmichael
and Allen Toussaint
, and standards such as "St. Louis Blues" and "You Gotta Move
". The award was presented to BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. Recipients included Doucet, band members Tommy Alesi, Jimmy Breaux, David Doucet, Mitchell Reed, Billy Ware, and Ben Williams, along with Eli Kelly and Woods Drinkwater as engineers. BeauSoleil's set was recorded in April 2008 and released with the group's approval without further involvement. According to Michael Doucet, the album "was on iTunes, and then all of a sudden it was nominated for a Grammy."
Nominees for the 52nd Grammy Awards
in 2010 included BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet for Alligator Purse, Buckwheat Zydeco
(stage name for Stanley Dural, Jr.) for Lay Your Burden Down
, The Magnolia Sisters for Stripped Down, Pine Leaf Boys
for Live at 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole
for L'Ésprit Créole. Alligator Purse included guest appearances by Garth Hudson
of The Band
, Natalie Merchant
of 10,000 Maniacs
, Roswell Rudd
, and John Sebastian
of The Lovin' Spoonful
. Lay Your Burden Down reunited Dural with producer Steve Berlin
and contained versions of Captain Beefheart
's "Too Much Time", Jimmy Cliff
's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah", Gov't Mule
's "Lay Your Burden Down", Memphis Minnie
's "When the Levee Breaks
", and Bruce Springsteen
's "Back in Your Arms". Members of The Magnolia Sisters, an all-female cajun group of multi-instrumentalists, included Anya Burgess, Ann Savoy, Lisa Trahan and Jane Vidrine. The award was presented to Buckwheat Zydeco, members of which included Reginald Dural, Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural, Michael Melchione, Kevin Menard, Olivier Scoazec, Curtis Watson, and Lee Allen Zeno. David Farrell and Steven Maxwell Berlin were also honored as the engineer/mixer and producer of the album, respectively.
For the 53rd Grammy Awards
(2011), the nominees were Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
for Zydeco Junkie, Feufollet for En Couleurs, D. L. Menard for Happy Go Lucky, the Pine Leaf Boys
for Back Home, and Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole for Creole Moon: Live at the Blue Moon Saloon. 2011 marked the fourth consecutive nomination for the Pine Leaf Boys. Group member Wilson Savoy was unable to attend the award ceremony, but admitted the nominations have "acted as vindication" of their "new-traditionalist sound". Zydeco Junkie, released through Carrier's own record label
Swampadelic Records, featured his "trademark party songs" and an "accordion-flavored" cover of "Movin' On Up", the theme song for the television series The Jeffersons
. Geno Delafose and Jamie Bergeron made guest appearances on the album. The award was presented to Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.
, Best Native American Music Album
, Best Traditional Folk Album). Zydeco and cajun works will now be eligible for the Best Regional Roots Music Album
category. Chubby Carrier was reportedly "broken-hearted" by the news, and concerned that the category's elimination would not give the music genre the attention deserved. Carrier stated: "This category inspired musicians to fight for the music. It strengthened us. I'd say to all the young zydeco musicians out there; don't give up this fight." Simien also expressed sadness and called the elimination "a disappointment for local music". Showing signs of optimism, Terrance Simien said: "The category might be gone today, but we'll get it back."
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
, 51st
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
, 52nd
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
and 53rd Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
(2008–2011) for quality zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
or cajun music
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
albums. The Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
Beginning in 2001, advocates began lobbying for a Grammy category specifically for cajun and zydeco music. Award recipients, in chronological order, included Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience is a Zydeco band from Louisiana led by Terrance Simien.-Awards:Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience won a Grammy award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for their album Live! Worldwide.-Discography:...
, BeauSoleil
Beausoleil
BeauSoleil is an American musical group specializing in Cajun music. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, the group members are brothers Michael Doucet and David Doucet , Jimmy Breaux , Billy Ware , Tommy Alesi , and Mitchell Reed .-Band history:Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil BeauSoleil (French, beautiful...
avec Michael Doucet
Michael Doucet
Michael Doucet is a Cajun fiddler, singer and songwriter who founded the Cajun band BeauSoleil from Lafayette, Louisiana.In 2005 Doucet was one of 12 recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA award, which recognizes artistic excellence, cultural...
, Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success...
, and Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band is a Zydeco band from Louisiana founded by Chubby Carrier in 1989.-Awards:Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band have a Grammy award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for their album Zydeco Junkie...
; no artist received the award more than once. Awards were presented to the engineers
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, mixers
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, and/or producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
in addition to the performing artists. The group Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
holds the record for the most nominations, with four. Though nominated each year the honor was presented, the group failed to receive an award. Doucet and Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards.-Career:Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop was then popular amongst his peers, Cedric developed an affinity for the...
each received three nominations. 2009 marked the only year in which a musician received more than one nomination as well as the only time two artists were nominated for works appearing on the same album—Doucet was nominated as a member of BeauSoleil for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a live album by BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, released in 2009 through MunckMix Records. In 2010, the album earned BeauSoleil the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album.-Track listing:...
as well as for his solo album From Now On, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are a Grammy Award-nominated Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records....
were also nominated for their contribution to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. Many nominated artists were from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, specifically Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
.
In 2011, the Academy announced the retirement of the award category. Beginning in 2012, zydeco or cajun recordings will be eligible for the Best Regional Roots Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album is an annual music award that will be part of the Grammy ceremony from 2012.It is a new category in which the previous Best Hawaiian Music Album, Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album and Best Native American Music Album categories have been merged...
category.
Background
According to Cody Daigle of The Daily Advertiser, advocates lobbied for nearly seven years in an attempt to create a Grammy category specifically for zydecoZydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
and cajun music
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
. The effort was led by musician Terrance Simien
Terrance Simien
Terrance Simien is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and song writer. He and his band won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for 2007....
, along with his wife and manager Cynthia. Mitch Landrieu
Mitch Landrieu
Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...
, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...
at the time, also supported the effort. Cynthia, a trustee of the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy, claimed hundreds of dollars and hours were invested in the lobbying effort she described as an "uphill battle". Prior to the Best Zydeco or Cajun Music category, works in the genre competed in the Best Contemporary Folk Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album...
or Best Traditional Folk Album
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording.An award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was also presented...
categories.
Recipients
For the 50th Grammy Awards50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
(2008), Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album nominees included Geno Delafose
Geno Delafose
Geno Delafose is a zydeco accordionist and singer. He is one of the younger generations of the genre who has created the sound known as the nouveau zydeco. His sound is deeply rooted in traditional Creole music with strong influences from Cajun music and also country and western...
& French Rockin' Boogie for Le Cowboy Creole, Lisa Haley for King Cake, The Lost Bayou Ramblers for Live: Á La Blue Moon, the French language cajun band Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
for their second album Blues de Musicien, Racines for Racines, Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars for The La Louisianne Sessions, and Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience is a Zydeco band from Louisiana led by Terrance Simien.-Awards:Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience won a Grammy award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for their album Live! Worldwide.-Discography:...
for Live! Worldwide
Live! Worldwide
-Personnel:* Jose Alvarez – Guitar, Vocals* Bob Dylan – Composer* Ralph Fontenot – Frottoir* Alexandra Huddleston – Images, Photography* Jillian Johnson – Package Design* Francis Scott Key – Composer* The Meters – Composer* Ziggy Modeliste – Composer...
. Of the seven nominees, only one was based outside Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
. Le Cowboy Creole, Delafose's fifth album, contained cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
's "Promised Land
Promised Land (song)
"Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Chuck Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in 1965, it was Berry's first single issued following his prison term...
", the Commodores
Commodores
The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour...
' "Easy", The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
' "When Will I Be Loved
When Will I Be Loved (song)
"When Will I Be Loved" is a popular song, written by Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers and a #8 hit single for that duo in the summer of 1960. The track had been recorded in 1959 while the Everly Brothers were contracted to Cadence Records; by 1960 they had moved to Warner Brothers and recording...
", Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
's "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me
(There's) No Gettin' Over Me
" No Gettin' Over Me" is a song made famous by country music singer Ronnie Milsap. Known by many fans by its less grammatically correct title "There Ain't No Gettin' Over Me" — the song's official title appears nowhere in the lyrics — the song became one of Milsap's biggest country and pop hits...
", and Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Domino
Domino (Van Morrison song)
"Domino" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It is the opening track of his fourth studio album, His Band and the Street Choir. This song is Morrison's personal musical tribute to New Orleans R&B singer and pianist Fats Domino.It was released by Warner Bros...
". Blues de Musician included a French adaptation of the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song "The Wild Side of Life
The Wild Side of Life
"The Wild Side of Life" is a song made famous by country music singer Hank Thompson. Originally released in 1952, the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at No...
". Live! Worldwide contained recordings of live performances from around the world during Simien's 25-year career, including "The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
" and traditional songs such as "Zydeco Boogaloo" and Boozoo Chavis
Boozoo Chavis
Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was a zydeco musician - music created by French speaking Creoles of South-West Louisiana. He was active from 1954 until his death during which time he largely sang and played the accordion. Chavis was also a prolific writer of zydeco songs...
' "Uncle Bud". Simien and the Zydeco Experience performed as the opening act to the pre-telecast for the 50th Grammy Awards ceremony. The award was presented to Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, members of which included Jose Alvarez, Ralph Fontenot, Keith Sonnier, William Terry, and Danny Williams. Joshua Murrell was also recognized as the engineer and producer of the album. Simien was described as "exuberant" during his acceptance speech in which he acknowledged the five other nominees. Simien and his band were also honored by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, which ranked their live performance in support of the album as one of the top ten acts of the year.
2009
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
nominees included BeauSoleil
Beausoleil
BeauSoleil is an American musical group specializing in Cajun music. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, the group members are brothers Michael Doucet and David Doucet , Jimmy Breaux , Billy Ware , Tommy Alesi , and Mitchell Reed .-Band history:Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil BeauSoleil (French, beautiful...
avec Michael Doucet
Michael Doucet
Michael Doucet is a Cajun fiddler, singer and songwriter who founded the Cajun band BeauSoleil from Lafayette, Louisiana.In 2005 Doucet was one of 12 recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA award, which recognizes artistic excellence, cultural...
for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a live album by BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, released in 2009 through MunckMix Records. In 2010, the album earned BeauSoleil the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album.-Track listing:...
, Michael Doucet for From Now On, Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
for Homage Au Passé, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are a Grammy Award-nominated Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records....
for Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards.-Career:Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop was then popular amongst his peers, Cedric developed an affinity for the...
for Cedric Watson. Doucet, the founder, lead singer and fiddler of BeauSoleil, is the only artist to receive more than one nomination for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album within the same year. According to Doucet, From Now On was recorded "live in three sessions with no rehearsals, overdubs, or song lists." The album contains original tracks, covers by Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
and Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
, and standards such as "St. Louis Blues" and "You Gotta Move
You Gotta Move (song)
"You Gotta Move" is a song written by Fred McDowell and Rev. Gary Davis. Being a well-known song of McDowell's as "You Got to Move", it was most famously recorded by the British rock and roll band The Rolling Stones and is featured on their 1971 album Sticky Fingers.The song has a haunting and raw...
". The award was presented to BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. Recipients included Doucet, band members Tommy Alesi, Jimmy Breaux, David Doucet, Mitchell Reed, Billy Ware, and Ben Williams, along with Eli Kelly and Woods Drinkwater as engineers. BeauSoleil's set was recorded in April 2008 and released with the group's approval without further involvement. According to Michael Doucet, the album "was on iTunes, and then all of a sudden it was nominated for a Grammy."
Nominees for the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
in 2010 included BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet for Alligator Purse, Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success...
(stage name for Stanley Dural, Jr.) for Lay Your Burden Down
Lay Your Burden Down
Lay Your Burden Down is a studio album by Buckwheat Zydeco, released in 2009 through Alligator Records. The album ranked number five on Billboards Top Blues Albums. In 2010, the album earned Buckwheat Zydeco the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album...
, The Magnolia Sisters for Stripped Down, Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
for Live at 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole
Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards.-Career:Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop was then popular amongst his peers, Cedric developed an affinity for the...
for L'Ésprit Créole. Alligator Purse included guest appearances by Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, Natalie Merchant
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...
of 10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs
10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...
, Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
, and John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
. Lay Your Burden Down reunited Dural with producer Steve Berlin
Steve Berlin
Steve Berlin is an American saxophonist, keyboardist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock group Los Lobos and, before that, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs, The Blasters, and The Flesh Eaters...
and contained versions of Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
's "Too Much Time", Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah", Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
's "Lay Your Burden Down", Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie
Memphis Minnie was an American blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the only female blues artist considered a match to male contemporaries as both a singer and an instrumentalist.-Career:...
's "When the Levee Breaks
When the Levee Breaks
"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927....
", and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's "Back in Your Arms". Members of The Magnolia Sisters, an all-female cajun group of multi-instrumentalists, included Anya Burgess, Ann Savoy, Lisa Trahan and Jane Vidrine. The award was presented to Buckwheat Zydeco, members of which included Reginald Dural, Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural, Michael Melchione, Kevin Menard, Olivier Scoazec, Curtis Watson, and Lee Allen Zeno. David Farrell and Steven Maxwell Berlin were also honored as the engineer/mixer and producer of the album, respectively.
For the 53rd Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
(2011), the nominees were Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band is a Zydeco band from Louisiana founded by Chubby Carrier in 1989.-Awards:Chubby Carrier And The Bayou Swamp Band have a Grammy award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for their album Zydeco Junkie...
for Zydeco Junkie, Feufollet for En Couleurs, D. L. Menard for Happy Go Lucky, the Pine Leaf Boys
Pine Leaf Boys
The Pine Leaf Boys is a Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana. Members include Wilson Savoy , Courtney Granger , Drew Simon , Jon Bertrand , and Thomas David .-Career:...
for Back Home, and Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole for Creole Moon: Live at the Blue Moon Saloon. 2011 marked the fourth consecutive nomination for the Pine Leaf Boys. Group member Wilson Savoy was unable to attend the award ceremony, but admitted the nominations have "acted as vindication" of their "new-traditionalist sound". Zydeco Junkie, released through Carrier's own record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Swampadelic Records, featured his "trademark party songs" and an "accordion-flavored" cover of "Movin' On Up", the theme song for the television series The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
. Geno Delafose and Jamie Bergeron made guest appearances on the album. The award was presented to Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.
Category retirement
In 2011, the category Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album was eliminated along with thirty others due to a major overhaul by the Recording Academy. Four additional categories in the American Roots Music field were eliminated (Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Hawaiian Music AlbumGrammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists from 2005 to 2011 for quality Hawaiian music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of...
, Best Native American Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Native American Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Native American Music Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the Native American music genre...
, Best Traditional Folk Album). Zydeco and cajun works will now be eligible for the Best Regional Roots Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album is an annual music award that will be part of the Grammy ceremony from 2012.It is a new category in which the previous Best Hawaiian Music Album, Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album and Best Native American Music Album categories have been merged...
category. Chubby Carrier was reportedly "broken-hearted" by the news, and concerned that the category's elimination would not give the music genre the attention deserved. Carrier stated: "This category inspired musicians to fight for the music. It strengthened us. I'd say to all the young zydeco musicians out there; don't give up this fight." Simien also expressed sadness and called the elimination "a disappointment for local music". Showing signs of optimism, Terrance Simien said: "The category might be gone today, but we'll get it back."
See also
- Cajun French Music AssociationCajun French Music AssociationThe Cajun French Music Association is an association dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Cajun music and culture.-History:The Cajun French Music Association is a non-profit organization of Cajuns and non-Cajuns whose purpose is to promote and preserve, not only Cajun music, but also...
- History of Cajun musicHistory of Cajun musicCajun music has its roots based in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada and Country music.-Early years:The first form of traditional cajun music began before the 20th century in south Louisiana. When the Acadians came from New Brunswick & Nova Scotia to Louisiana in 1764, they...
- List of people related to Cajun music
- Music of LouisianaMusic of LouisianaThe music of Louisiana can be divided into four general regions. Southwest Louisiana, , Southern Louisiana, west of New Orleans the southeast, the region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues and Afro-Caribbean rhythms...
- Zydeco (dance)Zydeco (dance)Zydeco as a dance style has its roots in a form of folk dance that corresponds to the heavily syncopated zydeco music, originated in the beginning of the 20th century among the Francophone Creole peoples of Acadiana...
External links
- ZydecoAndCajunMusic.org – the official site for the Grammy category
- Official site of the Grammy Awards