Beausoleil 35th Anniversary Concert

Related Content

• Keb Mo
  January 18, 2012
• Tab Benoit's Swampland Jam
  March 7, 2012
• New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Notes and photos from the field
  May 13, 2011
• Critics' Picks: Three 6 Mafia, Grimes, Balkan Beat Box, and more
  March 7, 2012
• Haley Bonar, B.B. King, Dawes, and more
  November 10, 2010

More About

• Michael Doucet
• Monk Boudreaux
• Billy Ware
• Crescent City
• Jimmy Breaux

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

When Michael Doucet avec son frère et ses amis founded Beausoleil in 1975, the Cajun renaissance was just getting underway, emerging from a dark period when speaking French was discouraged and the culture squashed in every possible way. Beausoleil played a key role in the revival, particularly in introducing Cajun music to new audiences worldwide, and 35 years later is an institution itself, generally and accurately regarded as the finest Cajun band in the land. Yet the pleasures of Beausoleil remain as raw and immediate as in '75, led by Doucet's soaring fiddle and wild vocals, bro David's scrambling guitar, Jimmy Breaux's pumping accordion, and the longtime percussion magic of Tommy Alesi and Billy Ware. Although Beausoleil was instrumental in keeping traditions alive, the band has long had a progressive streak, eager to mix things up. Now, on the occasion of that 35th anniversary, Beausoleil is on tour with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, representing another endangered culture, New Orleans's Mardi Gras Indians, the African-American street phenomenon at the root of most Crescent City music. Boudreaux and a coterie of Mardi Gras Indians, in full beaded and befeathered regalia, will join Beausoleil for a "seated" (not likely with this infectious stuff) performance Saturday evening. Beausoleil will return to the Cedar Sunday afternoon for a Cajun dance, which is a fais do-do down on the bayou. (Photo by Kenneth Cooke)
Sat., Nov. 13, 7 p.m., 2010