SAVOY-DOUCET
CAJUN BAND
The
Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, arguably Louisiana’s
finest, are cooking up a storm, Marc’s accordion
drones and chuckles like a chicken in the hands
aof a friendly farmer, Michael Doucet’s sawing
fiddle soars through an ecstatic perpetuum mobile,
and Ann Savoy, accompanying herself with a steady
chug-chug-chug on an acoustic guitar, sings plangently
in French of blighted crops and faithless lovers
and other jolly themes..”
- The London Times
The Savoy Doucet Cajun Band play honed down, hard
core Cajun music laced with an earthy sensuality.
Though the old tunes have been revived and returned
to a new life intensity in their hands, the Savoy
Doucet Cajun band doesn't play from a studied angle.
The three musicians in the band, Marc and Ann Savoy
and Michael Doucet, each hold their own as strong
individual group members, making up a tight intense
sound.
Savoy-Doucet has been performing and recording together
since 1977, recording five CDs on the Arhoolie label.
They have traveled all over the world, appearing
in many prestigious venues, such as the Newport
Folk Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Festival
of American Fiddle Tunes at the Smithsonian Institution,
the National Geographic Concert Series, even the
Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England, to name
a few. The nation has rewarded the trio for their
authenticity and expertise by taking them on numerous
state department tours, featuring them in national
festivals, awarding Marc Savoy the highest honor
in the country for traditional artists, the honorable
National Heritage Fellowship Award. Michael Doucet
was awarded a Grammy award and Ann was awarded the
Botkin Book Award for her definitive book on the
history of Cajun music, and she recently appeared
as a musician in the film "Divine Secrets of
the Ya Ya Sisterhood."
Although
the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band insists upon maintaining
a more acoustic approach to Cajun music the band
can hold its own amongst Cajun music lovers everywhere.
In fact, the band loves seeing how much power and
sound they can get out of just three instruments.
Each members of the band can play numerous instruments
and sometimes trade instruments during stage performances.
Sometimes the group demonstrates the way Cajun music
has evolved by demonstrating the early double fiddle
- triangle sound or the solo accordion - fiddle
sound. Early French ballads are added to the program
to show other historic elements prevalent in early
southwest Louisiana. Between the songs the Cajun
French poetry of the songs is often briefly translated
by Ann so that the feeling can be better understood.
Their repertoire is chosen carefully, popular dancehall
tunes interspersed with soulful ballads, fiddle
or vocal duets, or blues. The songs show the spectrum
of Cajun life from sorrow and lost love to nonsense
and the joy of dance.
The Savoy Doucet Cajun Band brings the raw energy
of the dancehalls of southwest Louisiana to the
stage, peppered with humorous and informative anecdotes
about life on the Louisiana prairies.
PRESS
Catching this expert, unpretentious trio is
about the closest most of us will ever get
to hearing an authentic Cajun bash on a screened-in
bayou porch. The Savoy Doucet Cajun Band scrapes,
strums, and wails its way through genre chestnuts
and in-the-traditional originals with an uncommonly
warm, congenial virtuosity. -
Chicago Tribune
“Marc, amaster of the button accordion,
astutely mixed emphatic chords with rippling
arpeggios, and Ann, the rhythm guitar player,
used her gorgeous voice to add a rare lyricism
to what is primarily a social dance music.”
- Washington Post
Savoy Doucet Cajun Band moves back several
decades to the sources of today's styles.
Many of the songs might have disappeared completely
if they had not been revived by these dedicated
musicians. Their acoustic trio has a diverse,
fresh, and lively sound, with spirited solos
and intuitive interplay.
- Atlantic Monthly |
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