Not sure what Illinois creole is. However here is some of that music by fiddle player Dennis Stroughmatt and L'Esprit Créole.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0hBkRSScFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTTntkVUxN0

WF

I enjoyed it indeed WF.

Although I cannot judge whether it is real cajun/creole music or not ( I am not experienced on this subject), I think he is a very fine fiddle player.

Thanks for sharing,

Gus

It really has nothing to do with what is in Louisiana. As many know, what is known as La creole and cajun music is just a little of what came from the french blended with everything else that was in La. A music gumbo.

There were large french settlements many other places other than La, they just got absorbed quicker than La. Illinois is one, another is Missouri(see link #3, where there are still a few old french speakers in one little pocket, which is where Dennis first began studying the creole. By the way, creole is not just associated with La, it technically refers to any french in the new world, which includes all french settlements below canada I think, including Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Not sure why it never included Canada, but as far as I know, and that's not that far, it doesnt.

Everything Bryan wrote agrees with what I've heard or read. Dennis' fiddling and French language explorations started with the ancestors of the upper Missippi river French settlements (which was at one time part of the Louisiana Territory, so calling it "Upper Lousiana" is historically correct).

However, he then moved to Louisiana and spent a good bit of time with the Ardoin family and learned some of his fiddling from Canray Fontenot. He's performed with Bois Sec, and recorded with Morris and Dexter Ardoin. Also toured with Sheryl Cormier (sp?). Anyway, he's a ferocious fiddler, can handle a one-row nicely, sings well, and is a great guy to jam with.

Jane Vidrine (Magnolia Sisters) also researched the French culture further north up the river (before Dennis), but they have both done academic work on the subject.

You can hear Quebec and Appalachia in the fiddle tunes of that region, but it's a distinctive style. There's a common thread with Cajun music in there somewhere, but I suspect it goes way back to France in the 1600's.

signed - not an ethnomusicologist - Steve Blais

Started reading up on this. Seems to be quite french in the area until after 1767 when the first americans arrived.



See the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Missouri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ste._Genevieve%2C_Missouri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Orleans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_de_Chartres

WF

Add Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable to the story and the French time line in the Chicago area gets stretched a bit longer.

I have a relative (my Gr-gr-gr-gr-grandfather's brother) who settled in St. Louis in 1797. His name was Peter Fine. St. Louis was a french settlement at the time, friendly to dutch settlers. His house was later purchased by William Clarke just after the Lewis and Clarke expedition. The european presence in the entire upper mississippi valley was French (and Mative American of course) before the La Purchase.

Fascinating! To my ear, I hear what would be a little Missouri fiddle style, ala Dwight Lamb, Volo Bogtrotters. The whole area has quite the history. It's always interesting trying to do a little snooping to see what came from where, who was influenced by what.
Steve

What I learned in history was that french agricultural colonists were encouraged by the church to migrate outwards to western Canada and the United States from Quebec well into the 20th century. Until the 1930's it was possible to travel by horseback from Quebec to California and hear mass in french in a different village every evening. The advent of universal education in english during the 1930's together with intermarriage to unilingual english speakers largely resulted in the assimilation of french north americans to the mainstream culture.

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this discussion. I agree with most of what's been written here, y'all are dead-on. I've known Dennis for the last several years and have been playing music with him on a regular basis since summer '07. For many years, parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri were called "upper Louisiana" and controlled by the French. The majority of the population was French. Celebrations of French culture are spread thin, as are people who still speak French...but you can find both if you look around. The Creole music that Dennis performs was learned over the years when he attended house parties in the Old Mines, MO area. Right now, Dennis is probably the only living person who is carrying the knowledge of these traditional French fiddle tunes. Anyway, I encourage you to check out Dennis' web site - link#1 - and read his bio. In addition, there was a good article (written by Dan Willging) published in the June/July issue of Dirty Linen. Also, if you're curious about French culture in the midwest, then think about attending the annual Fete d'Automne, held on the first Sunday of October in Fertile, MO. Finally, if you want to check out the music, then pick up a copy of Dennis Stroughmatt's Gambler's Fiddle CD, available from Floyds.

Rob Krumm
Urbana, IL