A fusion that is zydeco, too (WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. August 13, 1998) -- At its roots, zydeco is a fusion music a blending of Cajun folk songs and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, juiced by a bit of contemporary R&B. Which is why zydeco master Terrance Simien has little use for purists who consider him something less than a proper zydeco musician. "As far as I'm concerned, a lot of the so-called purists are people who are out of that culture," said Simien in a recent phone interview. "I'm straight from zydeco roots. I'm Creole. Everything I do I consider zydeco. I'm just doing it my own way." Simien and his five-piece band, the Mallet Playboys, will do zydeco their way at the National Music Center on Saturday, Aug. 15, at 8, on the newly renovated Centre Stage. For information, call 637-4718. As heard on his latest album, the CD-5 (formerly known as an EP) "Jam the Jazzfest" (Tone-Cool), Simien's brand of zydeco sacrifices none of the music's rhythmic excitement, nor its ethnic spice, on a selection of New Orleans classics and a few original compositions. What he does add to it, however, is a heavy helping of New Orleans-derived soul and an all-embracing approach that incorporates material from outside the zydeco tradition into his repertoire. Thus, in Simien's hands, Bob Dylan's obscure chestnut, "Baby Stop Crying" from Dylan's "Street Legal" album, is turned into a Neville Brothers-style soul ballad. And with his smooth, soulful pipes, Simien is one of those rare artists who can take a Dylan song and make it his own. "I love Dylan," explained Simien, who turns 33 in a few weeks. Simien said he first discovered Dylan in 1985, and wondered, "Where had all this stuff been all my life." "It's just a connection I had with his lyrics and his singing and his songwriting," said Simien, who has also recorded a version of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." "I just love everything about him. A lot of his songs can be done in so many different ways. They're such great songs, every last one." As Simien is forging his own path towards creating a new zydeco sound, he feels connected to those who came before him. "I'm following the path of Clifton Chenier, Queen Ida and Buckwheat, who all took the music and did something different with it," said Simien, who plans on releasing a full-length CD in time for the next Mardi Gras, as well as a children's album in late 1999. "Not just to imitate, but to end up creating their own styles, their own songs, and playing a style of music that's friendly to the crowd. "As far as straight-ahead zydeco, I did that years ago. I played real traditional stuff. And after a while the crowd would thin out toward the end of the night. Even to me it all starts feeling the same. And when you mix it up and throw in something different and give a variety of different styles and make them all work together in one style, people appreciate that more." While zydeco has gained in popularity over the last decade helped in part by Simien's contributions to the hit film, "The Big Easy" Simien said he still has to play diplomat with some of his audience. "A lot of people that come to see zydeco music who've never heard it before don't really know what it is," he said. "And a lot of people who have heard zydeco a lot of times think it all sounds the same. There's a lot of different styles. Just about every musician playing zydeco is pretty much creating their own style, or at least trying to come up with their own sound. "I just think people have to realize that the music comes from just being a sort of music of singing songs, sitting around in a circle, passing around a bottle of whiskey, singing in French, maybe playing the accordion and the violin and the rubboard. "From there it went on to the full-band thing. To really know about zydeco you have to listen to those old songs, and realize that the pattern it's staking out now is still evolving. It started from Amade to Clifton Chenier to Buckwheat." To Terrance Simien? "Hey!" he said to that. Radio Beat Another in our periodic tallies of the most-played CDs on our imaginary radio station.
Seth Rogovoy rogovoy@berkshire.net music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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