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Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

Some of it was discussed. I didn't find much by putting "Amede Ardoin" in the search block. How many Amede songs do you have in your repertoire? Roughly?

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

I've posted that video at least once here, maybe more, cause I like the hell out of it. I wish they had done a whole cd that day, cause these two songs sounded good, even though they got off track. I'd never heard anyone play les barres de la prison on accordion, but I love the way Chris played it, and liked Sean's singing even better.

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

Hey Bryan, on your comment, we have this thing for Barres de la prison at my home. It is a video of Canray Fontennot playing his fiddle solo at a very old age. His eyes look like he's knocking on death's door. He plays barres de la prison on his porch with the fiddle. I don't even know how many times my kids have watched it. They are teenagers, and they play it on their phones when they're in the bathroom when they think no one is listening. From that video, I got the notion to attempt the song on accordion by following Canray. It went ok, but nothing special. But when I heard barres de la prison as played and sang by these Ardoin boys on that "d" accordion, it slapped me across my face. Like a wake up call. I had been avoiding the black man's version of Cajun music, and wrote them off as always playing the same song over and over. It all sounded the same?? LOL, Well, that's what some of my white elders say. So I sat and tried to play along with Sean with my "d" accordion. The video is out of sinc in time, so it aint easy to figure what he's doing. After a couple days, I figured it out, and I found that the sequence of button presses and bellows direction was unlike anything I had ever played. My muscle memory would hardly allow me to do what he was doing. And then there's some seconds action and some back up done with the 3 top buttons of the accordion that you have to match your voice to when the song is sang. Unbelievable when it's finally done, ya here! I couldn't fall asleep the first night thinking about it. I saw all the possibilities that opened up just learning to play this song the black man's way. Just a note for every one....Canray Fontento's father, Adam Fontenot is said to have been an accordion player. The Ardoin's claim that it was Adam Fontenot that taught Amede Ardoin and Canray Fontenot to play, or influence them to play. It sounds like Canray had and uncle and his grandpa that were involved in Cajun music. I knew the lineage went back before Amede Ardoin and Joe Falcon! Far back!

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

Hey Bryan, I just discovered something. I believe "Barres de la Prison" has been played on accordion, but under the name of another song, and at two step speed. "Poor Man Two Step" John Delafouse. Geno's daddy. Oh, and by the guy in this video. Almost the same sequence of buttons. FYI, shhhh don't tell anyone.

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

Greezy, to my ears, Chris and Horace are not playing the same song, for sure Chris' is a waltz and Horace's a two step. I also have an affinity for Les Barres. Besides loving the song, I have a nostalgic childhood memory of listening to a black family that I used to really like, singing it while picking cotton across the road from our house. Interesting how that song changes from person to person and black to while, from Douglas Bellards original, to Canray's redo to "make it more danceable" as he says, to Dewey Balfa's sad sounding version, to Chris and Sean's kinda bluesy version, and I like each one. What I remember about the family singing it in the cotton field, is one sang it and the rest of the family would answer, like you sometimes hear in gospel music, and they sounded beautiful.

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

No doubt the black folk can sing the tunes. The reason I know the two songs are related is because I play both of them, and that's the only way I can tell. I would have never thought it just by listening. There are differences, but one song influenced the other. Lot of the same order and button sequence. It's the singing that gives it away. The pause and the final lyrics line each time the singing takes place.

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

You're completely right about Amedee (I think) and it's allways good to start a new subject about one of the most important artists on the one row.
Sean and Dexter Ardoin played on festivals in Europe and that were awesome gigs with traditional sounding Creole/Zydeco/Cajun music(difficult to put them in ) but in my opinion the best moments I had with Dexter at Raamsdonksveer(Holland) when he did some stuff during the afterparty on his own. Just he and his accordion
Great family of tradition for more than hundred years.
Amedee, Boi Sec(Gustav), Morris, Lawrence, Chris, Dexter, Sean,......

The video isn't playable on other websites than youtube.
See link#2 for it

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

I was wrong about two things because it was Sean instead of Dexter at Raamsdonksveer and I forget to mention Chris played there too.
It was really great, superb and fantastic

Re: Amede Ardoin Rises From The Unmarked Grave

It still amazes me that these simple country black folk are traveling the world over to present this Creole music. Evidently, people from other countries are willing to pay a pretty penny to get these guys to go there. These foreign countries have yet to call me up yet though. LOL. I guess they might if I were on the radar and actually had a band to put on the big show for them. Don't know, maybe one day. Hell Amede Ardoin who couldn't afford or want a box for his accordion, went to New York! But he didn't like that place. He wanted to come home to Basile bad.



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