January 5 Thursday Charm City Ramblers (Local Cajun Band)
@ Los Arrieros Restaurant & Night Club: 7926 Georgia Ave, Sliver
Spring, MD 20910
(On Georgia Ave - just north of the DC line, South of the Silver Spring Metro.
Parking in Rear Lot off Blair Rd. and on Georgia Ave)
First Thursday Cajun Dance and Concert Series
The restaurant specializes in Dominican, Colombian, and Mexican Cuisines
Admission: $10 : Music: 7:30 - 10:30 pm
FFIC: 301-585-8813

Jim,

A few years ago,I remember a man , at my local accordion shop, saying that after doing a few restaurant "gigs", his accordions started to smell, exactly like the fares they were serving, so beware , don't play too close to the kitchen, Amigo .

C.

Heheh, my accordions smell like cigarettes and Curry.

Jim

ha ha.
smells mean 'i gigged with this thing!'
something to be proud of

wle.

I was being truthful, I actually do eat loads of curry (my parents got me into it), and I smoke (I got myself into that, bad habit, I know).

Anyway, wish me luck, this is the first Cajun gig I've ever done. Should be alot different than my usual Irish pub music gigs where no one dances!

I'm going to try to not play to fast for the dancers!

Jim

hi jim,
good luck on your gig tonite. it's a great thing to remember....it's awkward for them to dance to music that is too fast and they will sit down. in my experience, most accordion players will play WAY too fast at first. it's not about chops, as much as it's about making the dancers want to shake their hips. if you have ever danced to a band playing like alvin and the chipmunks.....you will know how unpleasant it is....
have fun.
bon chance.
roger

I'm very confused about something. I listen to a lot old recordings of Cajun music, and much of it was played at over 200 beats per minute (two steps).

The question is, if people currently don't like to dance Cajun to this speed, how did the dancers do it back then? I personally like playing faster, it's more exciting to me. I'll have to try my best to slow down tonight, not the easiest thing to do when you've learned from FAST players.

I can't imagine Iry LeGeune playing any slower live, than on his recordings.

Any thoughts?

I also wanted to mention, I really don't understand why people have to be Nazis about speed at jam sessions.

For instance someone smirking and saying, "this is dance music, you're playing too fast." Yet there's no one dancing and that same person loves Iry LeGeune, Marc Savoy, etc.

Is it only that the Gods of Cajun accordion can play fast at jams?

Still confused

Jim

Don't get me wrong, I understand why people want it slower at a dance.... but come on, at a jam?

Jim,

Off course,Larry is right,in my haste in trying to humor you ,I forgot to congratulate you, go get them Tiger.

Felicitations.

C.

I know you're humoring me, I'm used to Interweb humor ;)

How did it go?

Went great Maz, awsome turnout. I could use a little less Data Entry and more accordion playing. My tendons were in a flaming uproar last night.

Thanks for askin' :)

Tell me about the tendons. And its worse if you're a dancer too. Holding your partners weight with the same arm that's gyrating all those buttons on the accordion on other nights is a recipe for pain.

I'd only played for 45 minutes at a stretch before our first gig. Then I had to play two sets at 1:15 each.

I was sore. Still am.