Program Descriptions
Show #301:
This program features the Brazilian rhythms and electric guitar of Lyakekere, rocking zydeco with Roddie Romero, Canadian jazz vocalist Karen Young, and Louisiana's slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth.
Show #302:
Exotic music from the Caribbean and Africa; reggae band Wailing Roots (French Guinea); high-energy dance music from Rara Machine (Haiti), Bolohi and the dance of the panther men (Ivory Coast); and soukous music by one of Africa's finest guitarists, Diblo Dibala (Zaire).
Show #401:
A sampler of French folk music including Chantelebre (France) playing traditional French tunes; the mystical sound of Cinqui So (Corsica) singing ancient songs in four-part harmony; Canadian group La Vesse du Loup with original and traditional Quebecois folk tunes; the daughters of Cajun music legend Dewey Balfa carrying on the tradition in their group Balfa Toujours (Louisiana); and Canadian singer/songwriter Edith Butler bridging the miles between Acadia and Acadiana.
Show #402:
Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Cha's (Louisiana) set the tempo for this episode with their hot zydeco music. Also featured are Les Comperes Grat'Fils (Reunion Island) playing an eclectic, electric sound incorporating everything from Cajun music to the quadrille; exciting young Louisiana blue musician Tab Benoit; and zydeco wild man Terence Simien and the Mallet Playboys (photo at right).
Show #403:
Jazz is the recurring theme in this episode, featuring Canadian jazz group Contrevent; talented New Orleans saxophonist Victor Goines, the hot vocals of Laurence Jalbert (Quebec); and the bluesy sound of Grammy-winning showman Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (Louisiana).
Show #501:
An extraordinary lineup of talented folk musicians, including a Russian bluegrass band, Kukuruza; gifted guitarist Javier Rubal (Spain) and his flamenco/rock duo; Louisiana's Cajun band par excellance, Beausoleil; and traditional Irish music from a superb all-woman ensemble, Cherish the Ladies (USA/Ireland).
Show #502:
These exotic sounds explore the many reasons for musical expression. From Haiti, the group Boukan Ginen hopes to raise social awareness through their lyrics to bring about change in their country, while Djo Dezormo and his group from Martinique struggle to preserve and celebrate their heritage through their Carnival music. Also featured are the Afro-Cuban rhythms explored by the Iroko Project (USA/Cuba), which are an ancient African religious expression; and the popular, modern dance sound of Congolese souokus from living legend Tabu Ley Rocheraus and his Orchestre Afrisa (Zaire).
Show #503:
This episode showcases modern music, driven by underlying African and Carribean rhythms: the dynamic Afro-Latin drumming of compas dance music performed by Dadou Pasquet and Magnum Band (Haiti); the hypnotic and romantic Malagasy sound of Rossy (Madagascar), Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens (photo at right) (South Africa) with their tightly harmonized township jive, and the rhythm of the Biguine vide in the music and dance of Martiniquan Carnival group Sasayesa.
Show #601:
This show takes off with a zydeco groove, with two popular south Louisiana groups: Keith Frank & the Soileau Family Band and Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie. Cyril Neville and the Uptown All-Stars are masters at New Orleans Funk, while the music takes on a more international flair when pop singer Ismael Lo, from Senegal takes the stage.
Show #602
The backbone of music - percussion, is explored in this episode. Based on the traditions of Japanese Kubuki Theater, the drums and flutes of Ondekoza are an expression of a disciplined way of life. The Canadian group Tuyo brings experimental instrumentation to their exciting and theatrical performance.
Show #603
This episode features African and Caribbean music. Kanda Bongo Man (Zaire) plays the danceable rhythms of soukous; dance and percussion ensembles Bougarabou (West Africa) and Le Ballet Pomme Canelle (Martinique) provide exotic choreography. Afro-Haitian spiritual music is performed by Vodou-Lé.
Show #604
This episode features traditional folk music from The Maine French Fiddlers, the smooth latin sounds of Conjunto Céspedes (Cuba/U.S.A.), Mario Canonge and his talented jazz combo from Martinique, and a rhythm and blues master from New Orleans, John Mooney & Bluesiana.
Artist Profiles
(A Few...)
Le Ballet Pomme Canelle
Martinique
This group of percussionists and dancers from the Caribbean creat their carnival rhythms on drums and bamboo sticks known as ti-bois, swaying and dancing to the sounds they create.
Bougarabou
West Africa
Combining graceful dance, colorful costumes and a unique interplay of movement, this 12-member dance and percussion enxemble includes male and female performers from the national dance companies of Senegal, Zaire, Ghana and Ivory Coast, and takes direction from choreographer Georges Momboye.
Mario Canonge and Ralph Thamar
Martinique
Martinique's most acclaimed and exciting pianist/composer, the Paris-based legend Mario Canonge has since the mid-1980s been in the heavyweight clique of zouk musicians. Canonge is equally at home with jazz, salsa, rock and soul, concurrently nurturing a career with the innovative Paris-based groups Ultramarine, Kann and Sakiyo.
Vocalist Ralph Thamar, best known as the lead singer for Malavoi, has released more than a dozen albums since he began his solo career in 1987, recording material in nearly all genres of French Antilles music from zouk to ragga.
Conjunto Céspedes
Cuba/U.S.A.
Folkloric poet, storyteller, dancer and singer Gladys "Bobi" Céspedes is a leading exponent of Son Cubano music -- the intricately polyrhythmic music at the roots of the mambo and salsa sounds of her native Cuba. Her 12-member conjunto performs new and traditional songs based in the sones, guarjiras and rumbas of this energetic Afro-Cuban genre.
Geno Delafose & the Eunice Playboys
Louisiana
Eunice, Lake Charles and Lafayette are the geographic and stylistic points of the triangle called Creole Country. The music of each area offers its own easily identifiable stylings. The Eunice sounds has long been identified with John Delafose and his family band. Geno held the drum seat for many years, with increasing turns on the accordion. He became so accomplished on the single and triple note accordions that father John took up the fiddle and they began dueting on many of the traditional waltzes and two-steps. As John says, "You don't see many black fiddlers anymore." Last year, John was sidelined with heart trouble and Geno stepped up his role, adding the piano note accordion associated with Lafayette area players like Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural, Nathan Williams and Leon Sam. The current Delafose band now handily mixes the traditional prairie rhythms with the big city R & B flavored zydeco. Band members include Geno's brothers Tony on bass and Gerard on rubboard, Charles Prudhome and Dwayne Dalcourt on guitars, Jonathon August on drums and Paul Edwards on rubboard.
Keith Frank & the Soileau Family Band
Louisiana
Keith Frank and his group may well be the most requested act at local Creole dances. Part of a new generation of zydeco artists, Frank began performing in his father Preston's band, and his sound now showcases the newest style of diatonic accordion zydeco, heavy on the beat and light on the lyrics. Frank's band has just released its first CD, What's His Name?, and he is one of a handful of musicians behind a high-energy style of dancing referred to as "nouveau zydeco." The ensemble is anchored by a young drummer and Keith's sister Jen on bass and vocals.
Ismael Lo
Senegal
Now based in Paris, this 35-year-old African musician creates soulful, intimate music influenced by R&B and traditional Senegalese sounds. A solo artist since the mid-1980's, Lo spent five years as a member of Super Diamono de Dakar, one of his native country's leading rock bands. His subsequent eight solo albums led to Iso, his must recent critically-acclaimed release, which takes its title from Lo's nickname.
Ismael Lo's songs are marked by a sense of personal exploration and a message of peace that needs no translation. "I am not a traditional musician," he says. "My inspiration lies between sould music and traditional Senegalese music." He began playing the guitar and harmonica at a young age, practicing simultaneously by affixing the harmonica to the wall with a pair of nails. Also a painter, Lo's embrace of modernity does not signify a divorce from the deeply rhythmic music of the Wolof people, the sabar drumming that drives Senegal's mbalax pop sound, or the serene textures of the kora and the balafon.
Kanda Bongo Man
Zaire
Born in what was the Belgian Congo in 1955, Kanda grew up during the birth of soukous. Derived from the French word secouer, meaning "to shake," soukous is a bouncy urban pop style synthesized from traditional melodies and Afro-Cuban rhythms. The bass and drums pin down the rhythm, which is layered with intricate, hypnotic melody lines from the guitar and, in this case, Kanda's sweet tenor.
The Maine French Fiddlers
United States
Originally organized for a Portland, Me. New Year's festival, this group has since been featured in Carnegie Hall's Folk Masters series. Composed of 7 members, this ensemble spotlights four gifted French-Canadian-American fiddlers. Although the quartet of fiddlers play the same melody in performance, each fiddler plays a unique rendition of the tune, creating a special blend of musical styles unlike the unison found in symphonic music. The fiddlers' strings are accompanied in concert by the rhythmic and harmonic pulse of the guitar, bass and piano.
John Mooney & Bluesiana
Louisiana
After 19 years in the Crescent City, guitarist John Mooney plays with a sinewy syncopation and a melodic tension that place him at the musical crossroads of the Delta and the Big Easy. Originally from Rochester, NY, the talented guitarist was exposed to the heavily rhythmic style of Robert Johnson's mentor, bluesman Son House, at an early age. Mooney was just 17 years old when he befriended the legendary Delta transplant, a figure whose music was to exert a strong influence on his emerging style. Mooney has since gone on to record 6 albums and earn a reputation as one of New Orleans' finest bluesmen. Regularly performing in both solo and trio formats, Mooney combines influences from Professor Longhair to Percy Sledge in his repertoire, which is grounded in the funky parade beats of his adopted home.
Cyril Neville & the Uptown All-Stars
Louisiana
This 12-member group is led by the outspoken vocalist and percussionist known to many as a principal in New Orleans' Neville Brothers' band. Combining his interest in musical forms like reggae, soul and the "second-line" sound of the Crescent City, Neville's band forms a wide-ranging expression of his vision. This group draws from Neville's work with seminal funk band The Meters and his lengthy performing and recording career with his brothers. The band's backdrop of Creole and reggae rhythms combines with the movements of its four dancers to provide a sizzling platform for Neville's soulful vocals and deep political conventions.
Tuyo
Canada
In 1978 Carol Bergeron destroyed his first instrument and his experimentation continues to this day. In 1987 he formed this group that takes its name from the French word for pipe, tuyau. Multidisciplinary musician Benoit Brodeur and musician/sculptor Carole Beaulieu join him in the current incarnation of the band, which incorporates unusual instruments into its multimedia percussion performance. Taking inspiration from the microtonal shadings of Indonesian and African music, Tuyo performs on sound generators largely of their own invention. Combining plastic piping and metal tubes from the scrapyard, this percussion trio counts a toolbox and glasses of water among its instruments. The metallophone, tortue, lelephant and galere are among their creations that combine theater and percussion, relying on light and movement as much as sound.
Vodou-Lé
Haiti
This group of 9 musicians is a percussion and vocal group that performs Afro-Haitian spiritual music. Some of their rhythms, songs and chants date back to the time of slavery, and other pieces in their repertoire can be heard in modern konbit and voudou ceremonies. The group's percussion battery includes the tya tya, kata, banbou, boula, manyan tanbou, chika and kone.
During the Festival, over 250 events are presented free to the public. In 1991, festival attendance was estimated at 250,000. Visitor logs documented travelers from 45 states and over 30 countries from all continents. 
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Sunshine by the Stars: Celebrating Louisiana Music
Capitol Beat
Against the Tide: The Story of the Acadian People
Forever LSU
Morris Lessmore and the Amazing World of Moonbot Studios
