Baasem 7. Sep and Unna 08. Sep 2001
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First of all we want to thank everyone who helped to organize this event. All friends and family, helping hands, paid and unpaid. Thanks to our sponsors (mainly Mercedes and Tabasco and local people). Thanks also to all writers and magazines who wrote about the festival before and after the event. And a big hand of an applause to the bands: ‘ZigaZag’ and ‘Ludwig Seuss Band’ and the ‘Cajun Pioneers’. Both nights were well attended and the audiences liked the bands from the first notes they heard. For many people Cajun and Zydeco didn’t mean a lot in Germany. |
Now several hundred really enjoyed the music and danced the night away. And they already asked for more. So it looks like there will be a festival in 2002 somewhere in Germany.
The first night (Sept.7th) in Baasem, a little town in the Eifel, a hilly region close to the Belgian border 80 km south of Cologne, was a big success as well as the follwing saturday (Sept. 8th) in Unna (close to Dortmund) at the Lindenbrauerei.
ZigaZag from England showed the audience how traditional Cajun music sounds. Carol Wilson at the drums and singing with her beautiful voice. Simon Hopkins setting the rhythm with his guitar for Phil Underwood and Jim Beard (with no beard) to play their solos. Phil and Jim are almost like Dennis McGee and IryLe Jeune reborn. Their set includes titles like ‘Cowboy waltz’ by Dennis McGee, ‘Chere ici, chere la bas’ by Canray Fontenot and ‘Les Cajuns et les Anglais’ by Phil Underwood. ‘Johnny peut pas danser’ (Johnny can’t dance) finished their set with everyone dancing and shouting for an encore.
The Ludwig Seuss Band rocked the audience with a mixture of Zydeco, Boogie and Louisiana R&R. Ludwig Seuss at the accordeon and piano, Dr. Will in a red suit at the vocals, Christoph Buhse rocking behind his drumset, Uwe Knüppel playing a rolling bass and finally David Hollstein with excellent guitarwork. They played Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis classics like ‘Hot Tamale Baby’ and ‘41 days’ combined with own material. (‘Zydecoboogie’ and ‘Low Down Zydeco’ by Ludwig sounding like straight from the swamps). Part two of the set showed Ludwig’s talent as a boogiepianist in the tradition of Albert Ammons or Pete Johnson. Backed by his musicians he rocked and jumped until sweating.
Finally the Cajun Pioneers, organizers of the festival with their interpretation of classic cajun tunes. Led by Luitger Fräger at the accordion playing different tunes on different instruments in different keys and colors. ‘Amedee Two-Step’ opening the program followed by songs like ‘Parlez nous a boire’, ‘Bayou Teche’ and ‘Evangeline Special’ and the classic ‘Jolie Blonde’ titlesong of the new CD. Keith Frank’s ‘Baby with your teeth so white’ giving the program the zydecospice.
Finishing their program with ‘Josephine par se ma femme’ the audience asked for more.
And here came the finale furioso: Hartmut Hegewald, Cajun Pioneers’ fiddler asked ZigaZag’s Jim Beard to join him for a strawbeatin’ version of ‘J’ete-z-au bal’. Olaf Markewitz, CP’s drummer played the fiddlesticks and Hartmut and Jim showed he audience what fiddlestick playing means. Finally the rest of the band, Klaus Warler on guitar and Michael Bentele on bass joined in, Olaf went back to his drumset and fellow musicians Ludwig Seuss and Dr. Will on doublescrubboards and Carol Wilson and Anne Fräger (wife of Luitger and former, now part time singer of CP) on doubletriangles gave Luitger Fräger (Accordeon CP) and Phil Underwood (Accordeon ZZ) their chance to show off their talents. And they did ! There was nothing to top that ! All musicians came onstage for a bow, the audience was overwhelmed and a fine festival was over.
We hope we’ll see you again next year with more excellent bands playing Cajun and Zydeco.
‘If the toes are tappin’ it’s happenin’ (Basin Brothers)
