In southwest Louisiana, among the crawfish ponds and Gulf Coast shrimp trawlers, rice is a staple in every Cajun and Creole kitchen. Whether it’s eaten in boudin for breakfast, served with seafood gumbo for lunch, or prepared as a side dish with fried okra and barbecued pork chops, the versatility of the world’s most popular [...]
BeauSoleil, the Grammy-winning Cajun band from Lafayette, recorded its 29th album at The Clubhouse recording studio in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley. The eclectic Alligator Purse includes a swamp-pop reinvention of Aldus Roger’s “Marieâ€; a wailing take on Julie Miller’s “Little Darlin’ †featuring guest vocalist Natalie Merchant; a Cajunized version of blues classic “Rollin’ [...]
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year with a star-studded lineup including Aretha Franklin , Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor and Sugarland. New Orleans favorite son Wynton Marsalis will headline the fest’s first day, April 24, performing the epic composition “Congo Square” with the Jazz at Lincoln Center [...]
HOUMA, La. — Folk artist Paula Lapeyrouse put a little piece of south Louisiana in the White House this month, as she joined hundreds of artists across the country in decorating the presidential Christmas tree. Lapeyrouse, a client of the Houma-based Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens, or TARC, traveled with two guests to Washington, D.C., [...]
NEW ORLEANS — After a record breaking career UL’s Tyrell Fenroy earned yet another honor today as the senior running back was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year to highlight the 2008 All-Sun Belt Conference Football Team. A Laplace native, Fenroy rewrote numerous rushing records for UL and the Sun Belt Conference. Fenroy [...]
Brush up on those waltzes and two-steps, because Tipitina’s Cajun Zydeco Dance Festival is throwing down with 20 hours of accordion, fiddle and “aieee” for fans to shuffle along to. On Saturday, the bill features Creole cowboy and 2008 Grammy-nominee Geno Delafose (pictured), Boutté-based gospel rockers the Zion Harmonizers, Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble and [...]
If UL’s football team secures a berth to play Rice in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 30, the Cajuns can thank Rutgers for clearing the path to Houston. A 48-13 win by the Scarlet Knights on Thursday eliminated Louisville from bowl consideration. Rutgers also apparently narrowed the field under consideration for an at-large berth in [...]
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three of the Grammy nominations recently announced are for music recorded during this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Michael Doucet garnered one of the nominations for Best Zydeco/Cajun Music Album for his work, “Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,†recorded with his band, BeauSoleil. Also [...]
If Louisiana-Lafayette’s football team goes to a bowl game this season, it won’t be in New Orleans. That’s what Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said during the league’s weekly teleconference call. According to the NCAA postseason football handbook, conferences are required to fill its contracted bowl slots with seven-win teams before six-win teams. The New [...]
The leader of the Hackberry Ramblers for more than six decades, Luderin Darbone was a fine fiddle player and, more importantly, one of the great innovators in Cajun music. Today, both the music and the cuisine of the Cajuns of Louisiana are popular around the world but this wasn’t always the case. Descended from French [...]