02:10 Both come from Duralde, in the prairies of southwest Louisiana where free people of color settled before the Civil War; the community was made up of mostly farmers and fisherman who owned their own land, with a few sharecropping families; their music precedes zydeco as an Afro-French music that mixes Cajun, blues, and old Creole music 03:00 Demonstration 04:35 Demonstration 06:40 Canray and Bois Sec have been playing together for about 60 years; both have played at Carnegie Hall and are National Heritage Fellows; Bois Sec’s cousin was Amédé Ardoin, an early recorded creole musician; Canray’s family is well known in Evangeline and St. Landry Parish and in Welsh, where he has worked in a feed store and as a farmer 08:10 Canray’s uncle and other older musicians played in his community, but he remembers that black communities weren’t much interested in fiddlers, and they played guitar but not steel guitar; Amédé Ardoin was the first black man to make a French record in New Orleans, and Bois Sec played the triangle for Amédé Ardoin; Canray’s father was an accordion player, but Canray never wanted to play it; Canray says that people assume he plays zydeco because he is black, but when he was starting to play music black people played Creole music and white people played Cajun music; explains the origins of zydeco as “zarico,” the word for snap bean, and the rise of Clifton Chenier as the king of zydeco 11:40 Demonstration 13:20 Explains that the music is a mix of waltzes, two-steps, one-steps, and quadrilles; in the east part of French Louisiana towards the plantations you hear African/Carribbean/zydeco; towards the west you hear the oldest Creole music with African and Carribbean influences as well as French influences; Canray plays with a blues-waltz style that is unique to that area; Canray remembers that they had a lot of house dances, but people didn’t want to hear blues at these dances, they only wanted to hear waltzes and two-steps; Canray and Bois Sec wanted to play the blues, so they incorporated it into the waltzes they played at these house dances 15:00 Demonstration: “Les Barres de la Prison (The Prison Bars)” 18:05 Demonstration: “La Valse Dimanche Apres Midi (Sunday Afternoon Waltz)” 21:45 Demonstration: “Eunice Two-Step” 23:38 Bois Sec Ardoin is from the community L'Anse 'Prien Noir (Black Cyprien’s Cove), named for Bois Sec’s ancestor who gave the land for the cemetery and founded the prairie community; there has been a Mardi Gras celebration there as long as the community can remember; they used to ride horses, but the musicians didn’t have much to do expect play at the houses; one man would lead the group’s call and response for the day; the chant goes on as the men beg for chickens with others dressed in various costumes and the response means “yes, my dear friend” because the day is a communal feast; this is the one day men will dance with other men to the “Mardi Gras Dance” song 26:05 Demonstration: “Mardi Gras Dance” 27:50 Sometimes on Mardi Gras musicians meet people on the road and they have to follow orders, and they stop in the middle of the road and play for money, but it all went to the captain; at the end of the day the captain would use the leftover money to buy the booze for everyone to drink; remembers that they had to work for their fun 29:00 Demonstration: “Mardi Gras Song” 30:20 Canray talks about Amédé; he didn’t want to work, and never had a family, and would play mostly for white people because they were able to pay him the most, but he would get into trouble because of his demands 32:15 Demonstration
