Cajun Champs – Various Artists / ARH CD-327

After the opening red-hot “Live” recording of Marc Savoy’s “Amede Two Step” (by the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band) you hear most of the pioneers: Joe Falcon who made the first Cajun accordion record in 1928 (heard here at a dance in the 1950s) – on to fiddler Luderin Darbone’s Hackberry Ramblers the premier Cajun string band who started in 1935 and is today still making ’em dance – on to Dewey Balfa Nathan Abshire Lawrence Walker and many more! At the end you hear a rocking live version of “Sam’s Big Rooster” by the Savoy Family Band with killer piano by Wilson Savoy!

1)Amede Two Step – The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band
2)Grand Texas – Chuck Guillory & Papa Cairo
3)La Vieille Chanson De Mardi Gras – Wade Fruge
4)T’es Petite Mais T’es Mignone – Cheese Read
5)Creole Stomp – Joe Falcon
6)Crowley Waltz – Luderin Darbone’s Hackberry Ramblers
7)Boscoe Stomp – Lawrence Walker
8)En Bas De Chene Verte – D.L.Menard
9)Allons A Lafayette – Harry Choates
10)La Valse De Minuit – Cyp & Adam Landreneau with Jerry Devillier
11)Madeleine – Isom Fontenot
12)La Valse De Soleil Couche – Octa Clark
13)Louisiana Stomp – Floyd Leblanc
14)La Branche De Murier – Breaux Brothers
15)Ma Negresse – Nathan Abshire
16)Petite Fille De La Campagne – Dewey Balfa
17)Contredanse – Austin Pitre
18)Cannon Ball Special – Nathan Abshire
19)Jolie Blonde – Austin Pitre
20)One Step A Chaumont – Cheese Read & Marc Savoy
21)Wade’s Blues – Wade Fruge
22)Sam’s Big Rooster – The Savoy Family Band

REVIEW

“This just might be the single best multi-performer Cajun disc yet compiled and as a reluctant convert to (and occasional backslider from) the genre I don’t make the claim lightly. Beginning with the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band’s hot “Amédé Two Step” moving into Chuck Guillory and Papa Cairo’s sweetly sung “Grand Texas” and continuing with Wade Fruge’s rendition of the eternal “La Vielle Chanson de Mardi Gras” the disc is three songs in before the first waltz hits thus giving it the edge on similar collections in terms of sequencing alone. That the 18 songs which follow range more freely over the quality spectrum is inevitable and that connoisseurs of the Arhoolie catalogue may already have most of these songs could put them off the package. But just about every big name (living and dead) and many linchpin tunes are included. So if you ever find yourself headed for that proverbial desert island grab this disc before you sail. Rating: Four shout outs to Chris Strachwitz out of five.”

(Arsenio Orteza — The Times of Acadia)