“Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” is a song credited to American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in 1952. Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerous cover versions and has since achieved popularity in a number of music genres.

With a melody based on the Cajun song “Grand Texas”, some sources, including Allmusic, claim that the song was co-written by Williams and Moon Mullican, with Mullican uncredited but receiving ongoing royalties. Other sources[who?] claim that this was one of several songs which Williams purchased from other writers; a practice that was relatively common in “show business” at the time.

Released in 1952, crediting Williams as the sole author, it was performed by Williams as a country song. It reached #1 on the U.S. country charts, and remains one of his most popular songs today.

Cajun Roots of the Song
Since the original melody of the song was from a Cajun French song called “Grand Texas”, the song is a staple of cajun culture. Although Williams changed the lyrics, he kept a Louisiana theme. In addition, Cajuns readily identified with the soulful sound of Williams. After Williams released his version, Cajuns recorded the song again using Cajun instruments. However, this time they used Williams’ lyrics translated into the Cajun French language. Over the past few decades, the Cajun French version has been performed by many Cajun bands including Aldus Roger and Joel Sonnier.

Theme
Williams’ song resembles “Grand Texas”, a Cajun French song, in melody only. “Grand Texas” is a song about a lost love, a woman who left the singer to go with another man to “Big Texas”. Jambalaya, alternately, is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine. The song has a Cajun theme, possibly inspired by Williams’ time with the Louisiana Hayride, though Louisiana Hayride was recorded in Shreveport, a city with very little Cajun cultural influence. Referenced within the song are such Cajun dishes as jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé gumbo. Williams sings of “Yvonne” in the song, referring to her as my ma cher amio, which is considered poor Cajun French for “my dear” (redundantly Williams uses the word “my” before the French “ma”), and has caused some confusion among listeners, particularly given his pronunciation. The refrain “son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou” has become a well-recognized and often repeated phrase.

Williams composed a sequel to the song from the female perspective, “I’m Yvonne (Of the Bayou)”, with Jimmy Rule. It was not as popular. As with “Jambalaya” there is speculation that Williams may have purchased this song from Mullican.

Later researched by a member of Moon’s family, a story emerged about how the song came about in the first place, and it was said that while visiting a small bar located just south of the Choupique Bayou and owned by Yvonne Little, the song Jambalaya referred to some truly wonderful times had there.

Cover versions
Sheet music of “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” with Jo Stafford on the cover
Another, even more popular at the time, version of the song was the 1952 cover version recorded by Jo Stafford, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts (and making the song well known to people other than country music fans). Mitch Miller had originally intended Jambalaya to be recorded by Jimmy Boyd for Columbia Records. Boyd turned the song down and Miller recorded it with Jo Stafford. Years later Jimmy Boyd did record it for Dot records. It was further popularized in a Rock’n'Roll version by Fats Domino.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya_(On_the_Bayou)

Clive Riche – vocals
Daniela Velli – vocals
Piera Pizzi – vocals
Enrico Cresci – ellectric Guitar, vocals
Alberto Contri – el. & ac. guitars, mandolin, vocals
Danilo Cartia – banjo, acoustic guitar, vocals
Leonardo Petrucci – mandola, acoustic guitar, vocals
Michele Anselmi – steel guitar, harmonica, vocals
Stefano Tavernese – violin, ac. guitar, washboard, vocals
Michael Supnick – trumpet, trombone
Carlo Ficini – trombone
Cristiana Polegri – saxophones, vocals
Gianluca Galvani – tuba
Silvia Manco – piano, vocals
Vincenzo Lucarelli – Hammond organ
Francesco Puglisi – electric bass
Derek Wilson – drums

Recorded live in Milan 23rd of november, 2007

Produced by FONDAZIONE PUBBLICITA’ PROGRESSO
Alberto Contri – artistic director
Enrico Cresci – musical director

Per informazioni contattare Vania Pavan, Fondazione
Pubblicità Progresso – Via Mercalli, 11 – 20122 Milano
Tel. (+39) 02 5830 4448 oppure (+39) 393 9120349
v.pavan@pubblicitaprogresso.org

Posted by:
http://www.michaelsupnick.com

Duration : 0:4:31

Duration : 1 min 9 sec

Duration : 11 min 3 sec

Duration : 0:2:23

American folk music encompasses many genres; many are known as roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American music. The music is considered American either because it is native to the United States or because it developed there, out of foreign origins, to such a degree that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new. It is considered “roots music” because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.

Many roots musicians do not consider themselves to be folk musicians; the main difference between the American folk music revival and American “roots music” is that roots music seems to cover a slightly broader range, including blues and country.

Roots musical forms reached their most expressive and varied forms in the first two to three decades of the 20th century. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl were extremely important in disseminating these musical styles to the rest of the country, as Delta blues masters, itinerant honky tonk singers and Latino and Cajun musicians spread to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. The growth of the recording industry in the same approximate period was also important; increased possible profits from music placed pressure on artists, songwriters and label executives to replicate previous hit songs. This meant that fads like Hawaiian slack-key guitar never died out completely as rhythms or instruments or vocal stylings were incorporated into disparate genres. By the 1950s, all the forms of roots music had led to pop-oriented forms. Folk musicians like the Kingston Trio, pop-Tejano and Cuban-American fusions like boogaloo, chachacha and mambo, blues-derived rock and roll and rockabilly, pop-gospel, doo wop and R&B (later secularized further as soul music) and the Nashville sound in country music all modernized and expanded the musical palette of the country.

The roots approach to music emphasizes the diversity of American musical traditions, the genealogy of creative lineages and communities, and the innovative contributions of musicians working in these traditions today. In recent years roots music has been the focus of popular media programs such as Garrison Keillor’s public radio program A Prairie Home Companion and the feature film by the same name.

Genres here range as widely as the definition of folk music itself; working definitions are based on the style and themes of the music regardless of its source. Many are a part of the American Folk Music Revival, including works by Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, The Weavers, Burl Ives and others. Others evolved in the 1960s including storytelling type performers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The New Christie Minstrels, The Limelighters, The Kingston Trio and Judy Collins and counterculture and folk rock performers such as Peter Paul and Mary and The Byrds.

Notable roots musicians have included Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Son House, Leadbelly, Hazel Dickens, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Merle Travis, Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Cash, Maggie Simpson, Mahalia Jackson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Washington Phillips, Fiddlin’ John Carson (1868–1949), Johnny Richardson (1908–present; children’s folk music), Willie Nelson, and Jean Ritchie. More recent musicians who occasionally or consistently play roots music include Keb’ Mo’, Ralph Stanley, Jewel, John Denver, Chris Castle, Ricky Skaggs, and Jeremy Fisher, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary.

Additionally, the soundtrack to the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is exclusively roots music, performed by Alison Krauss, The Fairfield Four, Emmylou Harris, Norman Blake and others. The 2003 film A Mighty Wind is a tribute to (and parody of) the folk-pop musicians of the early 1960s.

American roots music was the subject of the 4-part documentary series American Roots Music on PBS in 2001.

Nut Hill Productions, Inc., is now in production on a comprehensive documentary entitled “The Music of America: History Through Musical Traditions,” with an anticipated release date in winter of 2009.

Hootenanny, an early 1960s musical variety show broadcast on ABC in the United States primarily featured folk music performers.

American Roots Music was a 2001 multi-part documentary film that explores the historical roots of American Roots music through footage and performances by the creators of the movement.

Duration : 0:7:46

I mean, Cajuns make up about 10-15% of the population of Louisiana, which, granted, isn’t much. But it’s nothing to scoff at. I mean, they’re a different ethnic group, they have a different language, culture, and quite frankly, they’ve been there longer than any American. And yeah, they may not make up an enormous amount of the population, but that doesn’t stop the French Canadians in Quebec.

So…..why is there no Cajun nationalism? Different culture, language, traditions, cuisine, etc..why no sepratist sentiment?

Because, sad to say, the French-speaking peoples of Louisiana, the Cajuns, Creole Whites and Creoles of Colour, have been forced to disregard their language and culture for the last 100 years. The English-dominated educational system made them feel shame for being French, and because of that they were more or less treated like immigrants and outsiders in a region where they have been living for over 400 years.

And while the Cajuns weren’t the first to reach the New World, they and the Creoles have inhabited the region for the last 300 years. New Orleans was French for two centuries before it became American, they never came to the United States, the United States came to them and trampled them underfoot with the imposition of a language and culture that was foreign to them while simultaneously degrading their own traditions. Sh*t, if I was a Cajun I would be mad as HELL and be PROUD to retain my language and culture today.

“Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” is a song credited to American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in 1952. Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerous cover versions and has since achieved popularity in a number of music genres.

With a melody based on the Cajun song “Grand Texas”, some sources, including Allmusic, claim that the song was co-written by Williams and Moon Mullican, with Mullican uncredited but receiving ongoing royalties. Other sources[who?] claim that this was one of several songs which Williams purchased from other writers; a practice that was relatively common in “show business” at the time.

Released in 1952, crediting Williams as the sole author, it was performed by Williams as a country song. It reached #1 on the U.S. country charts, and remains one of his most popular songs today.

Cajun Roots of the Song
Since the original melody of the song was from a Cajun French song called “Grand Texas”, the song is a staple of cajun culture. Although Williams changed the lyrics, he kept a Louisiana theme. In addition, Cajuns readily identified with the soulful sound of Williams. After Williams released his version, Cajuns recorded the song again using Cajun instruments. However, this time they used Williams’ lyrics translated into the Cajun French language. Over the past few decades, the Cajun French version has been performed by many Cajun bands including Aldus Roger and Joel Sonnier.

Theme
Williams’ song resembles “Grand Texas”, a Cajun French song, in melody only. “Grand Texas” is a song about a lost love, a woman who left the singer to go with another man to “Big Texas”. Jambalaya, alternately, is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine. The song has a Cajun theme, possibly inspired by Williams’ time with the Louisiana Hayride, though Louisiana Hayride was recorded in Shreveport, a city with very little Cajun cultural influence. Referenced within the song are such Cajun dishes as jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé gumbo. Williams sings of “Yvonne” in the song, referring to her as my ma cher amio, which is considered poor Cajun French for “my dear” (redundantly Williams uses the word “my” before the French “ma”), and has caused some confusion among listeners, particularly given his pronunciation. The refrain “son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou” has become a well-recognized and often repeated phrase.

Williams composed a sequel to the song from the female perspective, “I’m Yvonne (Of the Bayou)”, with Jimmy Rule. It was not as popular. As with “Jambalaya” there is speculation that Williams may have purchased this song from Mullican.

Later researched by a member of Moon’s family, a story emerged about how the song came about in the first place, and it was said that while visiting a small bar located just south of the Choupique Bayou and owned by Yvonne Little, the song Jambalaya referred to some truly wonderful times had there.

Cover versions
Sheet music of “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” with Jo Stafford on the cover
Another, even more popular at the time, version of the song was the 1952 cover version recorded by Jo Stafford, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts (and making the song well known to people other than country music fans). Mitch Miller had originally intended Jambalaya to be recorded by Jimmy Boyd for Columbia Records. Boyd turned the song down and Miller recorded it with Jo Stafford. Years later Jimmy Boyd did record it for Dot records. It was further popularized in a Rock’n'Roll version by Fats Domino.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya_(On_the_Bayou)

Clive Riche – vocals
Daniela Velli – vocals
Piera Pizzi – vocals
Enrico Cresci – ellectric Guitar, vocals
Alberto Contri – el. & ac. guitars, mandolin, vocals
Danilo Cartia – banjo, acoustic guitar, vocals
Leonardo Petrucci – mandola, acoustic guitar, vocals
Michele Anselmi – steel guitar, harmonica, vocals
Stefano Tavernese – violin, ac. guitar, washboard, vocals
Michael Supnick – trumpet, trombone
Carlo Ficini – trombone
Cristiana Polegri – saxophones, vocals
Gianluca Galvani – tuba
Silvia Manco – piano, vocals
Vincenzo Lucarelli – Hammond organ
Francesco Puglisi – electric bass
Derek Wilson – drums

Recorded live in Milan 23rd of november, 2007

Produced by FONDAZIONE PUBBLICITA’ PROGRESSO
Alberto Contri – artistic director
Enrico Cresci – musical director

Per informazioni contattare Vania Pavan, Fondazione
Pubblicità Progresso – Via Mercalli, 11 – 20122 Milano
Tel. (+39) 02 5830 4448 oppure (+39) 393 9120349
v.pavan@pubblicitaprogresso.org

Posted by:
http://www.michaelsupnick.com

Duration : 0:4:31

Fr.L:
Upright Bass: Jean-Henry Blenaird Doucet
Accordion % Vocal: Blanchard Pomee Leger T. Doucet
Slide-guitar & Vocal: Dugas-Allain Poirier Cabri-Cher Doucet
12-stringed Acoustic Guitar: Jean-Marie Bujeau Daigle-LeJeune Doucet
Washboard: Gumbo Savoie Sonnier Doucet
Three-stringed Banjo: Roy-Daigle Tayaut Coo Doucet

Duration : 0:4:53

Duration : 0:1:5

With Emmett’s Free Hands method, both of your hands are equal partners. As they approach the fretboard from opposite sides, your fingers line up parallel to the frets and a powerful new musical language emerges – bass lines, lead melodies, chords, and rhythm, simultaneously, and in any combination you desire.

Today thousands of musicians are making their own music with our Stick, Grand Stick, Stick Bass and NS/Stick fretboard tapping instruments. Emmett continues to expand on his original concepts by adding to the variety of Stick models, features and tunings – defining the state of the art in tapping instruments.

The Stick comes from the guitar and bass, but its playing method shares roots with keyboards and drums as well, placing all of these musical voices in the hands of one musician. The Stick is unique, expansive, versatile, like each of its players. It is a blank slate upon which to “tap your potential.”

Duration : 0:2:39