BeauSoleil
Alligator Purse
(Yep Roc, 2009)

BeauSoleil is a study in contradictions. They’re a hard rockin’ band, but they only play acoustic instruments. They’re a Cajun band, but they drop blues, jazz, R&B, New Orleans second line strut, folk, Tex-Mex, Texas swing, Zydeco, and world music into their sound. They started playing in an effort to preserve the traditional sounds of Cajun fiddle music, but along the way created a wave of interest in Cajun music that spawned a new generation of bands that have not only kept the old music alive, but made it into a constantly evolving genre that’s attracting listeners from all over the globe. They’re one of the only traditional Louisiana groups to ever win a Grammy, but while their album L’Amour Ou La Folie took home a gold statue for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1998, their approach is anything but traditional, even though it never strays too far from the music’s roots.

Michael Doucet, the band’s fiddler, singer, and mastermind, put together Alligator Purse (the band’s 29th album) the way he’d put together a set for a dance, balancing up-tempo numbers with romantic waltzes and obscure covers from the pens of Cajun music’s forefathers. The album was cut live in four days with minimal overdubs, and features stellar turns from the group’s friends and relations including Garth Hudson, John Sebastian, and Natalie Merchant.

BeauSoleil’s rhythms will be familiar to anyone who ever listened to the music of New Orleans, a slightly syncopated beat that seems ready-made for dancing and good times. “Théogène Créole” is based on “La Chanson de Théogène Dubois”, a tune Doucet discovered in the archives of Alan Lomax. The original was an a cappella lament, which the band transforms into a waltz that sounds like a blend of New Orleans stop steps and Cuban rumba, with fine instrumental interludes from Michael Doucet’s fiddle, David Doucet’s chiming acoustic guitar, and Jimmy Breaux’s accordion. They transform the blues chestnut “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” into “Rouler et Tourner”, a frisky Cajun two-step with French lyrics driven by a snare drum rhythm from drummer Tommy Alesi that barrels down the tracks like an out of control freight train.

“Little Darlin’” takes swamp rock to the Appalachian Mountains with a hint of bluegrass in Michael Doucet’s weeping fiddle with the wailing harmonies of Merchant adding to the song’s forlorn drama. The slow drag R&B of “Marie” features the jazzy sax of Andy Stein from Commander Cody’s band playing off of Doucet’s bluesy fiddling. Hudson brings his heavy Hammond B3 chops to “I Spent All My Money Loving You”, another R&B-flavored tune, a swamp rock classic with new French lyrics by Michael Doucet. “Les Oignons” is another oldie, played as a boozy Dixieland dance number, with a wailing horn section laying down some nasty funk. JJ Cale’s “The Problem” gets a relaxed reading that features Billy Ware’s rub board rhythms, Bill Keith’s understated banjo picking, and a lyrical guitar solo by David Doucet. Michael Doucet sings it in Cale’s sleepy, laid back style, giving the tune an insouciant air.

Needless to say, there’s plenty of music here that’ll get a party moving. “Reel Cajun” opens things up with a galloping back beat and some incendiary fiddling from Michael Doucet, “Bosco Stomp” starts slow then kicks up its heels with Doucet’s fiddling and Alesi’s inventive timekeeping, while “Valse a Thomas Ardoin” closes the album with a somnambulant two-step.

Listen: “Zydeco Gris Gris” [at youtube.com]

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