Music of Louisiana

Themusic of Louisianacan be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to CreoleZydecoand Old French (now known as cajun music),New Orleans,andnorth Louisiana.The region in and aroundGreater New Orleanshas a unique musical heritage tied toDixielandjazz,blues,andAfro-Caribbeanrhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting atBaton Rougeand reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of theUS South.

New Orleans (Traditional Genres)

Main article:Music of New Orleans

In the 19th century, there was already a mixture of French, Spanish, African and Afro-Caribbean music. The city had a great love forOpera;many operatic works had their first performances in the New World in New Orleans.

Early African, Caribbean and Creole music

Unlike in theProtestantcolonies of what would become theUSA,Africanslavesand their descendants were not prohibited from performing their traditional music in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The African slaves, many from the Caribbean islands, were allowed to gather on Sundays, their day off, on a plaza known asCongo Square.Permitted as early as 1817, dancing in New Orleans had been restricted to the square, which was a hotbed of musical fusion, as African styles from across America and the Caribbean met and danced in large groups, often in circle dances. The Congo Square gatherings became well known, and many whites came to watch and listen. Nevertheless, by 1830, opposition from whites in New Orleans and an influx of blacks elsewhere in the U.S. caused the decline of Congo Square's prominence. The tradition of mass dances in Congo Square continued sporadically, though it came to have more in common with minstrelsy than with authentic African traditions.

Caribbean dances known to have been imported to Louisiana include thecalenda,Congo, counjai, andbamboula.

Louis Gottschalkwas an early 19th-century White Creolepianistandcomposerfrom New Orleans, the first American musician/composer to become famous in Europe. A number of his works incorporate rhythms and music he heard performed by African slaves.

In addition to the slave population,antebellumNew Orleans also had a large population offree people of color,mostly Creoles of mixed African and European heritage who worked as tradesmen. The more prosperousCreolessent their children to be educated in France. They had their own dance bands, an opera company, and a symphony orchestra. The community produced such composers as Edmund Dede and Basil Bares. After theAmerican Civil Warmany Creole musicians became music teachers, teaching the use of European instruments to the newly freed slaves and their descendants.

Jazz

Main article:Jazz

Probably the single most famous style of music to originate in the city wasNew Orleans jazz,also known asDixieland.It came into being around 1900. Many with memories of the time say that the most important figure in the formation of the music wasPapa Jack Lainewho enlisted hundreds of musicians from all of the city's diverse ethnic groups and social status. Most of these musicians became instrumental in forming jazz music includingBuddy Bolden,Bunk Johnsonand the members ofOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band.One of early rural blues, ragtime, and marching band music were combined with collective improvisation to create this new style of music. At first, the music was known by various names such as "hot music", "hot ragtime" and "ratty music"; the term "jazz"(early on often spelled" jass ") did not become common until the 1910s. The early style was exemplified by the bands of such musicians asFreddie Keppard,Jelly Roll Morton,"King" Joe Oliver,Kid Ory.The next generation took the young art form into more daring and sophisticated directions, with such creative musical virtuosos asLouis Armstrong,Sidney Bechet,andRed Allen.

New Orleans was a regionalTin Pan Alleymusic composing and publishing center through the 1920s, and was also an important center ofragtime.Louis Primademonstrated the versatility of the New Orleans tradition, taking a style rooted in traditional New Orleans jazz into swinging hot music popular into therock and rollera. He is buried in New Orleans. Contemporary jazz has had a following in New Orleans with musicians such asAlvin BatisteandEllis Marsalis.Some younger jazz virtuosos such asWynton MarsalisandNicholas Paytonexperiment with the avant garde while refusing to disregard the traditions of early jazz.

Continuing development of the traditional New Orleans jazz style,Tom McDermott,Evan Christopher,New Orleans Nightcrawlers.

Harry Connick Jr.was raised in New Orleans and attendedLoyola University New Orleans.

New Orleans blues

Main article:New Orleans blues

The blues that developed in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the city ofNew Orleanswas strongly influenced by jazz and incorporated Caribbean influences, it is dominated by piano and saxophone but has also produced major guitar bluesmen.Major figures in the genre includeProfessor LonghairandGuitar Slim,who both produced major regional, R&B and national hits.Louisiana bluescreated a specialized form of blues music sometimes using zydeco instrumentation and slow, tense rhythms that is closely related toNew Orleans bluesandswamp bluesfrom Baton Rouge.

R&B/gospel

Alan Toussaint composed or produced many songs, including "Mother-in-Law","I Like It Like That","Fortune Teller","Ride Your Pony","Get Out of My Life, Woman","Working in the Coal Mine","Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky "," Freedom For the Stallion ","Yes We Can Can",and"Southern Nights".He was a producer for hundreds of recordings, for example"Right Place, Wrong Time",by his longtime friendDr. John( "Mac" Rebennack), and "Lady Marmalade"byLabelle.The Meters,Lee Dorsey,Ernie K-Doegained hit songs. New bandGalacticreleased jazz funk album.

Mahalia Jackson

The city also has a rich tradition ofgospel musicand spirituals;Mahalia Jacksonwas the most famous of New Orleans' gospel singers. She is buried in Metairie.

The Dixie Cupshad a #1 Hot 100 hit with "Chapel of Love"in 1964. They also recorded the song"Iko Iko"aboutMardi Gras.In the 1950s, New Orleans again influenced the national music scene as a center in the development ofrhythm and blues.Important artists includedFats Domino(d. 2017),Snooks Eaglin,Dave Bartholomew,Professor Longhair,and Huey "Piano" Smith.

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage nameDr. Johna New Orleans-born singer/songwriter, pianist and guitarist whose music combined blues, boogie woogie and rock and roll. Dr. John citedProfessor Longhairas one of his musical influences and has recorded a number of his compositions, most notably "Tipitina".

1980s new style of "street beat" brass bands combining the jazz brass band tradition with funk and hip hop was spearheaded by theDirty Dozen Brass Band,then theRebirth Brass Band.

New Orleans (Modern Genres)

Rock/pop

Significant New Orleans rock band, and alternative bands includeZebra,The Radiators,Better Than Ezra(singerKevin Griffingraduated fromLouisiana State Universityin 1990),12 Stones,andCowboy Mouth.Popular alternative rock bands includeMutemathandMeriwether.

Louisiana is known as the most important place for the development of a style ofheavy metal:sludge metal.Two of its founding acts,EyehategodandCrowbar,are fromNew Orleans,wherethe genre's most important scenecan be found.Other notable sludge metal bands such asAcid Bath,Down,Soilent Greenand Chokeare based in Louisiana. Blackened death metal bandGoatwhoreare from New Orleans.

Britney Spears(from Kentwood) has had four #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the dance-pop song "...Baby One More Time"from 1999. R&B singerFrank Oceanhad a #1 album on the Billboard 200 withBlondein 2016.

Hip-hop

Beginning in the mid-1990s, New Orleans became a hub ofSouthern hip hop.First withMaster Pand hisNo Limitclique based out of the3rd Ward,then later came theCash Moneyclique who popularized a unique semi-melodic Louisianian style of rapping to the hip hop mainstream. The city has also been a center ofSouthern hip hop,and the birthplace of mainstreamBounce musicwhich originated in New Orleans.

The rapperJuvenilehad a #1 hit on the Hot 100 with "Slow Motion"ft.Soulja Slim,from 2004and a #1 album on the Billboard 200 withReality Checkin 2006.Lil Waynebecame one of the most prominent New Orleans rappers in the mid-2000s. He has had two #1 hits on the Hot 100, including "Lollipop"from 2008.

Southern region (Traditional Genres)

The music of rural south Louisiana features significant input from non-Creoles, most notably African Americans who are critical to the cultural/musical identity. Four main musical genres are indigenous to this area —Creole music(i.e. zydeco),swamp pop,andswamp blues.These historically-rooted genres, with unique rhythms and personalities, have been transformed with modern sounds and instruments. The southwestern and south central Louisiana areas herald many artists and songs that have become international hits, wonGrammyawards, and become highly sought after by collectors.

In southwestern Louisiana in the 1800s, thefiddlewas the most popularCajuninstrument and the music still carried clear influences from the Poitou region of France and the Scottish/Canadian influences of their earlier homeland. In the late 19th centuryGermanimmigrants spreading outward from central and easternTexasand New Orleans soon brought theaccordionas well.Creolesat the time sang a rhythmic type of song calledjuré.When accordion, fiddle and the triangle iron were added later, the music evolved into French music or formla la,a central component of Creole music. La la was primarily rural, played at house dances also known asla las,and found in towns in the prairie regions likeMamou,EuniceandOpelousas.

In 1901 (see1901 in music),oilwas discovered atJenningsand immigration boomed. Many of the newcomers were white businessmen from outside of Louisiana who attempted to force the Creoles and Cajuns to adopt the dominant American cultural forms, even outlawing the use of theFrench languagein 1916. Despite the law, many Creoles and Cajuns still spoke French at home, and musical performances were in French.

Creole music

Main article:Creole music

The term "Creole music" is used to describe both the early folk or roots music traditions of French and Metis rural Creoles of South Louisiana and the later more contemporary genre called zydeco. It was often simply called French music or La La. It was sung in Frenchpatoisby Creoles. This early American roots music evolved in the 1930s into a richer sound accompanied by more instruments. Creole pioneerAmédé Ardoinwas the music's most influential figure and one of the earliest to make recordings, second only to the duo of Douglas Bellard and Kirby Riley.He has also been credited for greatly influencing the foundation of Cajun music. Creole music traditions in the US have been known to change and evolve as quickly as they were being replicated by white artists, the music of the Creoles also evolved into a more contemporary amplified sound that was later called zydeco, which is the indigenous music of the Creoles or "Creole music". Zydeco comes from Frenchles haricots,meaning snap or green beans as inles haricots (ne) sont pas salés(the beans are not seasoned (with salt pork) because times are hard right now). Zydeco fused the traditional Creole roots music sung in French with contemporary sounds of blues and rhythm and blues making it relevant, dynamic and constantly attracting a new generation of listeners within the Creole community as well as outside the community. This fusion was birthed in the Creole la la, jazz and blues halls (joints) of Frenchtown, Houston, Texas which were frequented by Creole immigrants from southwestern Louisiana.Clifton Chenier,born nearOpelousas,Louisiana, is regarded as the "King of Zydeco" and was largely responsible for defining and popularizing the genre in the mid- to late 1950s and 1960s.

Cajun music

Main article:Cajun music

Cajun music is rooted in the music of the preexisting Creoles and the French-speaking Catholics of eastern Canada and became transformed into a unique sound of the Cajun culture. In earlier years of the late 18th century thefiddlewas the predominant instrument and the music tended to sound more like early country music. Cajun music is typically awaltzortwo step.Unlike the folk music ofQuebec,it is not associated with the Celtic tradition. Famous Cajun musicians were Lawrence Walker, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Aldus Roger, Marc Savoy, Wilson Savoy, Dewey Segura,Wayne Toups.

Zydeco

Main article:Zydeco

Early in the 1950s, zydeco evolved from the music of theCreolesin southwest and south central Louisiana. At an earlier period, Creole and Cajun music were more similar, but afterWorld War II,this regional French music evolved into a distinct expression of the Creoles, Louisianians whose shared languages and culture transcend race. Along with the accordion, the second main instrument in a zydeco group is a corrugated metalwashboard,called a Zydeco Rubboard orfrottoir.They made the music contemporary by adding electrical instruments (guitar and bass), keyboards, drumkit and even sometimes horns. The Creole Zydeco music of Grammy-winning artistsQueen IdaGuillory,Clifton Chenier,Rockin' SidneySimien,Buckwheat ZydecoandTerrance Simienremain some of the most internationally recognized zydeco music.John Delafose,Andrus Espree (akaBeau Jocque),Boozoo Chavis,Rosie Ledet,Chubby Carrier,Canray Fontenot,Amédé Ardoin,Rockin' Dopsie,Geno Delafose,Nathan Williams,Keith Frank,Chris Ardoin,Nathan Williams Jr., J Paul Jr.,Cedric WatsonandJeffery Broussardare also other well known zydeco musicians.

Swing Out

Swing out can be classified as a cross between the music genres of southwest Louisiana including Zydeco and Southern Soul. It is especially popular in the Acadiana region, being that so many artists originate and perform in this part of the state. Its popularity has caused an expansion of the music throughout the southern portion of the United States. Swing out music is usually produced and doesn't involve the use of live instruments unlike zydeco. Notable artists include Tucka James, Roi "Chip" Anthony, "Lysa" Harrington, and AudiYo.

Swamp blues

Main article:Swamp blues

Swamp blues developed aroundBaton Rougein the 1950s and reached a peak of popularity in the 1960s. It generally has a slow tempo and incorporates influences from other genres of music, particularly the regional styles ofzydecoandCajun music.Its most successful proponents includedSlim HarpoandLightnin' Slim,who enjoyed a number ofrhythm and bluesand national hits and whose work was frequently covered by bands of theBritish Invasion.

Swamp pop

Main article:Swamp pop

Swamp pop came about in the mid-1950s. With the Cajun dance and musical conventions in mind, nationally popular African American music genres such as rock, pop, country, andR&Bsongs were re-recorded, sometimes in French. Swamp pop is more of a combination of many influences, and the bridge between zydeco, New Orleanssecond line,androck and roll.The song structure is pure rock and roll, the rhythms are distinctly New Orleans based, the chord changes, vocals and inflections areR&Binfluenced, and the lyrics are sometimes French.

Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do"and" On Bended Knee "(both Bobby Charles compositions).Phil Phillips' gained big hit "Sea of Love".Swamp pop also left its imprint on the related but distinct genre known as "swamp blues",includingSlim Harpo's classic "Rainin' in My Heart".Swamp blues/Swamp pop/Swamp R&B type songs such as the Cookie and the Cupcakes hit" Mathilda ", Johnnie Allan's" Mathilda "and Dale & Grace" I'm Leaving up to You ".

The Rolling Stones' coveredBarbara Lynn's "You'll Lose a Good Thing"and" Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin') ".

Southern region (Modern Genres)

Country music

Sammy Kershaw,Eddy Raven, Jo-el Sonnier, and the band River Road are all Acadiana natives who went on to score national fame and sell millions of records via the major labels in Nashville.

Dance and Rave music

Southern Louisiana, especially around Lafayette had a significant rave scene in the late 1990s into the early 2000s. At its peak, dance-based DJ sets were featured most weekend evenings onKSMBand gained near-mainstream appeal. Local dance and rave scenes primarily centered onFlorida breaks,and also incorporatedtrancemusic and occasionally mainstreamhouseor other dance tracks as well. Notable DJs included DJ Trashy, DJ Digital, DJ Johnny Cage, and DJ Moon.

Hiphop

Southern Louisiana has vibrant hiphop scenes in most areas.

Baton Rouge in particular is home to a number of successful rappers, includingWebbie,Boosie Badazz,and more recently,YoungBoy Never Broke Again,who had a #1 album in 2019.

North Louisiana music

The region's location, bordered byTexason the west and theMississippi Deltaon the east has not led to the development of "locally stylized" music. Traditional and moderncountry musichas been dominant, creating its own country stars, likeTim McGraw,Jimmie Davis,Tony Joe White,andAndy Griggsfrom Northeast Louisiana, andTrace Adkins,Kix Brooks,andHank Williams Jr.from Northwest Louisiana.Tim McGrawhas had 25 songs that have reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, including "Live Like You Were Dying"from 2004.

However, North Louisiana's lasting contribution to the world of popular music was the radio program TheLouisiana Hayride,which started broadcasting in 1948 on KWKH in Shreveport.Hank Williams,George Jones,Johnny Cash,Elvis Presleyand nearly every other country legend, or future country legend alive during the 1950s stepped on stage at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. They performed, many for the first time on radio, on a signal that covered much of the southeastern US. The original production of the show ended in 1960, but re-runs and the occasional special broadcast continued for a few years. TheLouisiana Hayridewas regarded as a stepping stone to TheGrand Ole Opry,the legendary radio show from WSM inNashville, Tennessee.

Northern Louisiana in the 1950s had acountry rockscene, many of whose artists (the Lonesome Drifter) were recorded by localRam Records.Later,ShreveportproducedThe Residents,Kenny Wayne Shepherd,and Sunday Mass Murder.

Shreveport native Danny Johnson a veteran of the industry gracing the stages and recordings of Rod Stewart, Rick Derringer, Alice Cooper, and Alcatrazz. (Eddie Van Halens) Private Life, Danny Johnson and the Bandits, and Axis. He has been the guitar slinger for the last 16 years forSteppenwolf.

Jeff Mangum,the founder ofNeutral Milk Hoteland a founding member ofThe Elephant 6 Recording Companywas born inRuston, Louisiana.

Recordings

Small, local record labels proliferated fromHouston, Texasto New Orleans, specializing in recording and distributing local acts. Labels such asJin, Swallow,Maison de Soul,andBayoucontinue to record and distribute Creole music, and other south Louisiana music. Many of the original versions of classic songs are still being made and distributed.

One of the most successful label owners wasFloyd Soileau.Soileau started as a localDJinVille Platte, Louisianain the mid-1950s, and soon decided he would rather help make music than play it. He started most of the labels listed in the previous paragraph. He and his record shop are important pieces of Louisiana's music history.

See also

• Louisiana Music Hall of Famein Baton Rouge
• List of songs about New Orleans
• Indigenous music of North America
• List of people related to Cajun music

Bibliography

• Russell, Tony (1997).The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray.Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 157.ISBN1-85868-255-X.
• Blush, Steven(2001).American Hardcore: A Tribal History.Los Angeles, CA:Feral House.ISBN0-922915-71-7.

External links

• Satchmo.com
• ImLAonline.org
• Gumbo Radio, "Louisiana's music and then some"
• OffBeat magazine of "Louisiana music and culture"