Petit Cadeau

Amazon.com
New Orleans' most famous nightclub, Tipitina's, is named after a Professor Longhair song, but these days the most consistent presence is Bruce Daigrepont, who leads his Cajun band in a "fais do do" there every Sunday afternoon. This is not as incongruous as it may seem, for all Louisianans--from French-American farmers on the southwest prairies to African-Americans in New Orleans housing projects--seem to share an affinity for syncopated dance beats. And Daigrepont's new album, Petit Cadeau, is full of the push-and-pull rhythms that keep the dancers at Tipitina's shaking and spinning every Sunday until the sun goes down over the nearby Mississippi River. --Geoffrey Himes

Tracks:

Tipitina Two Step
Uncle Willie
My Last Good-bye
The Little Gift
Perrodin Two Spep
Prison Bars
Good Morning, Sunday
The Key To My Heart
Baby Of The Family
Little Mamou
The Heart Of Louisiana
An Old Friend
Voyager
Time Marches On

Amazon.com

New Orleans' most famous nightclub, Tipitina's, is named after a Professor Longhair song, but these days the most consistent presence is Bruce Daigrepont, who leads his Cajun band in a "fais do do" there every Sunday afternoon. This is not as incongruous as it may seem, for all Louisianans--from French-American farmers on the southwest prairies to African-Americans in New Orleans housing projects--seem to share an affinity for syncopated dance beats. And Daigrepont's new album, Petit Cadeau, is full of the push-and-pull rhythms that keep the dancers at Tipitina's shaking and spinning every Sunday until the sun goes down over the nearby Mississippi River. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

Daigrepont's best album........2000-06-22

I'm a big fan of Daigrepont, but not always a fan of his albums, which are pretty uneven. When I want to hear him play this is what I put on.

A lot of Cajun music is wedded to tradition, but Daigrepont feels free to experiment. "Bebe de la Famille," for example, has a Caribbean touch. "Bonjour, Dimanche," about a farmowner who's been up all night throwing a party and is listening to the countryside wake up at dawn, is the trickiest song here, simultaneously evoking the narrator's bleary state and the farmyard's early-morning bustle. Daigrepont is expanding the tradition, though, not leaving it behind. There's still bouncy party music like "Tipitina Two-Step," a slow one about his uncle's store where you could speak Cajun French and gamble, and covers of songs by Canray Fontenot and Wade Fruge.

All of Daigrepont's albums have good songs, but this one's something special. The worst you can say about anything here is that it's merely good.

World Music: