Mail Order Sources for Cajun/Zydeco Mechandise |
 |
Mail Order Sources for Cajun/Zydeco Mechandise |
|
Contents:
Recorded Music Sellers
Record Companies / Music Studios
Musical Instruments
Books
Videos & CD ROMs
includes instructional for dance, music, and language
Art, Shirts & Other Gifts Merchandise
Foods and Cooking Items
(These may be only source of hard-to-find recordings)
(Aslo, see here for record reviews)
West Coast Mardi Gras Party!
(2000)
More than a Cajun invasion - it's the Gator that ate the Gate! A Festive Parade of the Best of the West Coast US in New Orleans R&B, Zydeco, Cajun, Funk & Dixieland by Zydeco Flames, Gator Beat, Andre Thierry, Motordude Zydeco, California Cajun Orchestra (w/ Danny Poullard), Rhythmtown-Jive, Mumbo Gumbo, Tom Rigney, Tee Fee, Eddie Baytos & the Nervis Bros. (w/ Ziggy Modeliste), Frog Legs, Golden Gate Rhythm Machine, Brass Monkey, S. E. Willis, and The Pulsators (w/ Art Neville). This high summit celebration shows off the cream of the burgeoning west coast music scene for New Orleans-based music. "The largest Cajun/Creole/Zydeco music scene outside of Louisiana" - Dale 'Le Blanc' Johnson. "In America, great migrations produce great music. Just as Delta musicians took Highway 61 to Chicago and electrified their blues, so did the Creoles and Cajuns migrate to California and establish vital dance communities. Now the California scenes rival anything back home in Louisiana..." - Michael Tisserand, author, The Kingdom of Zydeco. 15 tracks from 15 west coast artists (mostly from the greater San Francisco bay area, some including former Louisianas and some who just got swept away with the vital Crescent City fever. - Total running time 59+ minutes
"Learn to Zydeco Dance Tonite" by Ben Pagac and Debbie Shaw. A clear breakdown of the basic step plus progressively delivered explaination of more than twelve
moves and step variations (38 min.) Only $20 + $3 postage. Send check or money order made out to "Insectefex, Inc" (MD residents add 5% sales tax). Great way to learn or, if already experienced, groom a shy partner. The companion tape Advanced Zydeco Dance also does a great job of breaking down more advanced moves. This tape also demonstrates the Creole dance called Basse Bas.
For a review, see my page Cajun and Zydeco Instructional Dance Video Reviews.
This tape covers advanced Cajun Jitterbug and the Troika, a three person folk dance. This tape will allow you to figure out most of the more difficult jitterbug moves including Big and Little Windows, Turns, and Pretzels. This video is the second in a series- the first is Introduction to Cajun Dancing and there is book Cajun Dancing. These can be mailordered from a number of sources on this page.
For a review, see my page Cajun and Zydeco Instructional Dance Video Reviews.
We have danced Cajun since 1991 and have been formally instructing since 1993. Our instructional experience includes Randol's Restaurant in Shreveport, the Continuing Education Program in four universities across North and Central Louisiana, numerous private workshops and seminars, and primary dance instructors at festivals and social functions in Jackson, MS., Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. In 1998 we were the Cajun dancers on the Louisiana Birthday Bus which traveled to the major media markets in the eastern third of the United States as the kick off for FrancoFete '99, the year long celebration of French influence in the State of Louisiana. We have an instructional video that teaches the three Cajun dances (the waltz, two-step, and the jig). The video is an hour and forty minutes in length and is designed to take an individual from the very basic level through the intermediate/advanced levels. Our web site is: www.cajundance.com
For a review, see my page Cajun and Zydeco Instructional Dance Video Reviews.
- Louisiana Zydeco Live DVD
Louisiana Zydeco Dance Show has dance DVD for sale
You Can Speak Cajun French
available in local Louisiana recordstores and gift shops for around $20 or you can order it from Acadiana Records by calling 337457-1786 or 866-518-6465 (toll free).
Allons en Louisiane
Nice combination - music CD with a good mix of Cajun and Zydeco plus a Quicktime Video CD ROM tours of music venues of Southwest Louisiana, restaurants, dance and cooking lessons, and more.
Al Berard Teaches... Cajun Fiddle Basics
Produced for Al Berard by Tom Gath and Susi Mills of Bayou Highway Productions. With this DVD you can learn from one of the masters as you watch, listen and play along. In this menu driven instructional DVD, Al Berard teaches the basics of tuning, bowing, melody and seconding for two complete Cajun songs, "The Acadian Two Step" and "The Eunice Waltz".
Beginning Zydeco and Cajun Button Accordion Video Lesson
Instructional Video by Evo Bluestein
Beginning Zydeco Scrubboard Instructional Video
Instructional Video by Evo Bluestein
"Learn to Play Cajun Accordion"
Tape 1,"Starting out" (75 minutes) and tape 2, "Intermediate and Advanced
Techniques" (60 minutes), were both recorded in Woodstock, NY.
From Nancyt Weston:
Dirk Powell, who is a founding member of the popular traditional Cajun band Balfa Toujours (headed by Dewey's daughter Christine, also Dirk's wife), has a number of recordings to his credit. Naturally gifted in music, intelligence, teaching, and writing, Dirk shares all of his gifts with us in these two videos. Dirk helpfully builds his lessons sequentially and gives space between teaching pieces for people to try what he is showing. Some of the techniques that Dirk shares are bouncing, anticipating the bellows change, and using dynamics of louder and softer. There are excellent closeups of Dirk's fingers, which is important if you are a visual learner. I found the split-screen technique really helpful -- you can see what Dirk is doing with both the treble-side fingers and on the bass-button side. I love some of his analogies and metaphors: the "bellows shiver," the "spider motion" for octaves, the accordion as "a band in a box." As a teacher, he is encouraging ("It's not as hard as you think") and appreciates the beginner's mind ("I know this is a little fast, but ... "). Dirk's comfortable, easy "back-porch" communication style makes you feel as though you were sitting with a friend or teacher in your own living room.
To purchase tapes, contact Homespun Video,
Box 694, Woodstock, NY 12498
1-8000-33-TAPES
A number of good documenaties are available at Les Blank's page. Here are some of the titles:
Hot Pepper (1973)Thrilling musical portrait of Zydeco King Clifton Chenier, who combines the pulsating rhythms of Cajun dance music and black R&B with African overtones, belting out his irresistible music in thesweaty juke joints of South Louisiana. 54 minutes.
J'ai Été Au Bal / I Went to the Dance (1989)The definitive film on the history of the toe-tapping, foot-stomping music of French Southwest Louisiana. Includes many Cajun and Zydeco greats, featuring Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Marc and Ann Savoy, D. L. Menard, and many others. 84 minutes.
Marc & Ann (1991)Portrait of Marc and Ann Savoy, Cajun musicians who are dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Cajun culture. Marc's an irreverantstoryteller and accordion maker. His wife Ann is the mother of four and author of Cajun Music: Reflection of a People.
Les Blues de Balfa (1983)
- The Balfa Brothers are the most renowned Cajun musicians of Southwest Louisiana, the first Cajun group to take their music outside of Louisiana. Dewey Balfa traces the development of his musical family. Produced and directed by Yasha Aginsky. 28 minutes
Cajun Visits (1983)Six masters of traditional Cajun music: Dennis McGee, Wallace "Cheese"Read, Canray Fontenot, Leopold François, Robert Jardell and Dewey Balfa, as they talk abou their lives, their music and their work. Producedand directed by Yasha Aginsky. In Cajun French with English subtitles. 29minutes.
Clifton Chenier, the King of ZydecoHot performances by the King of Zydeco and his Red Hot Louisiana Band. Executive Director and Producer, Chris Strachwitz. 55minutes.
ZydecoProduced and directed by Nick Spitzer, this colorful, joyous portrait focuses on some of zydeco's most popular musicians and theirculture, as seen in local clubs, a Mardi Gras celebration, and interviews.With Dolon Carriére, Armand Ardoin and Alphonse "Bois Sec"Ardoin. English narration, with interviews in Cajun-Creole French. English subtitles. 57 minutes.
Robert Mugge is famous maker of music documentaries. Here are some of his titles with Louisiana music content:
RHYTHM 'N' BAYOUS: A Road Map to Louisiana Music (2000)A 2-hour film exploring the music of north and south Louisiana with performances by Kermit Ruffins, Hackberry Ramblers, Rosie Ledet, Dale Hawkins, Henry Butler, Claude King, Nathan Williams, Sister Pearlee Tolliver, Jambalaya Cajun Band, Henry Gray, Rod Bernard, Lil' Brian, Dale & Grace, Po' Henry & Tookie, La Famille Viator, Rev. Gerald Lewis, Ever Ready Gospel Singers, Easter Rock Church, Lil' Alfred, Warren Storm, Buddy Flett and Kenny Bill Stinson.
TRUE BELIEVERS: The Musical Family of Rounder Records (1994)An 86-minute portrait of music label Rounder Records featuring performances by Alison Krauss, Bill Morrissey, Steve Riley, Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas, Beau Jocque, Tish Hinojosa, Jimmy King, Bruce Daigrepont & Johnson Mountain Boys filmed in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
THE KINGDOM OF ZYDECO (1994)
A 71-minute film on the Southwest Louisiana zydeco scene featuring Boozoo Chavis, Beau Jocque, John Delafose and Nathan Williams.
Art, Shirts & Other Gift Merchandise
The first-ever Cajun/zydeco music guide has just been released: Let the Good Times Roll! A Guide to Cajun and Zydeco Music. It is an in-depth buyer’s guide covering virtually every Cajun or zydeco artist who ever recorded a CD or LP. A foreword by Michael Doucet opens the 232-page paperback. Nearly 600 albums are rated and reviewed, with 20 essential recordings recommended. Artist bios with 62 photos, an introduction and a comprehensive appendix of resources offer a wealth of information. The authors are Pat Nyhan, Brian Rollins and David Babb, a journalist, and two former musicians who host Cajun/zydeco radio shows in Portland, Maine, and have made a lifetime study of Louisiana music.
Food and Cooking Supplies
Last update:
Mid-Atlantic Crawfish Net
Cajuns by Choice and
Zydecodependents Anonymous
Copyright 2005 by Jeremy Rice