Terrance Simien - The Tribute Sessions (2001)

> The album

A tribute to Louisiana Creole culture

Ethno-historians define "Creole" as a hybrid of Spanish, French, African and native American cultures, not to be mistaken with Cajun, even if both cultures have common aspects, especially in the musical field. If by chance you try to imagine what a "Creole" from Louisiana looks like, Terrance Simien could well be a good example. Go to his official Web site, explore the photo gallery and see him with his eternal cheerful smile and his African traditional hat !

Not only is he a two-time Grammy Award winning musician (2008 & 2014), but he is also an active preserver of Creole culture and zydeco music, having at heart to transmit both to the younger generations : in 2000, he and his wife Cynthia set up the ieducational program "Creole4Kidz and the History of Zydeco" which benefited hundreds of thousands of teens of all continents.

These "Tribute Sessions", issued two decades after Simien's career started in the very early 1980s (a kind of anniversary), belongs to the same kind of approach : as explained in the quick opening narration, it is a homage to the great elders who have had a strong influence on his music, be they zydeco artists or not (Sam Cooke, The Band, Bob Marley).

Terrance Simien was born in 1965 in Mallet, in the Eunice area, 50 km north-west of Lafayette, where his family had settled eight generations earlier, an ancestry he is really proud of. As a boy, he used to hear zydeco at local dances, then learned to play the accordion, formed his first band at age 17 with his brother Greg, who is now a Catholic priest, and began to tour the local clubs and outdoor dances circuit, gaining in popularity and largely contributing to the revival of a genre that was considered as minor by the mainstream and slowly dying.

In 1984, he did a remarked performance at the World's Fair in New Orleans with his band The Mallet Playboys, and two years later, he had the good fortune to retain Paul Simon's attention and record with him. His first album, "Zydeco on the Bayou", came out in 1990, already featuring a deeply moving version of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" in memory of Clifton Chenier. His career was definitely launched, nationally then internationally, extending to movies scores writing and recording.

Simien, who incidentally likes to play barefoot, is regarded as one of Zydeco’s most soulful vocalists. This is clearly demonstrated by the 13 songs featured on this tribute album. Simien and The Zydeco Experience are driven by a nice gentle but solid zydeco swing and most of all by very nostalgic mellow arrangements (accordion, organ). Sad, sorrowful, desperate, nostalgic, melancholic, heartbreaking, emotional… are some of the words that come to mind to describe Simien's musical and outstanding vocal style.

◄ Canray Fontenot

It starts with a recalling of zydeco rare fiddle player Canray Fontenot through his song "Les Barres De La Prison".
Rockin' Sidney aka Sidney Simien (apparently not a relative, the narration being mute on the subject) is paid his dues with two excellent rhythmic tracks : "If It's Good For The Gander" and the cult "My Toot Toot".
Simien then quote Sam Cooke as one of his main influences as a singer and proves it with a grand version of "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day".

John Delafose (accordion) & the Eunice Playboys ►

From the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, who modernized the genre by using amplified instruments and an extended band, and who taught Simien the important thing was to "do your own thing" as he recalls, Simien chose "I'm Coming Home", a nostalgic and soulful declaration of love of a young man to his mother, featuring a very roots-sounding fiddle part, and "Zydeco Cha Cha", built on an Afro-Cuban rhythm.
With the two rocking pieces, "Joe Pete Got Two Women" (co-signed by John Delafose and Canray Fontenot) and "One Hour Too Late", Simien honors John Delafose and his Eunice Playboys.

◄ The Band (R. Danko at ext. right).

After recalling the surprising way he first met his idol Rick Danko, Simien gives a really outstanding magnificent version of the dramatically sorrowful love ballad "It Makes No Difference" from The Band, that he confesses has always been his favorite group. Written by Robbie Robertson and sung by Rick Danko, it was first released on The Band's 1975 album "Northern Lights-Southern Cross". Simien's cover, magnificently sung, is certainly one of, if not the, highlights of the album.

Rockin' Dopsie ►

Rockin' Dopsie (pronounced "doopsee") typical rocking (of course !) zydeco is present through the "That Was Your Mother" (another mother story !), punctuated by a nice part of vintage New Orleans drumming.
Zydeco and reggae were meant to meet each other, a mix which is common nowadays but wasn't at that time. Simien picked up "Waiting In Vain", a 1977 song from Bob Marley & The Wailers first period, to delivers a nostalgic tropical gumbo.
 

▼ Beau Jocque

The late great Beau Jocque who was eight years older but started his musical career a decade later than Simien, untimely died in 1999 at age 45. The jumpy but again melancholic version of his song "Yesterday" gives justice to his style.
The conclusion of this tribute celebration comes in the form of the very popular Christian "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", a prayer in memory of the musicians who have passed on, rendered here with the same nostalgia that marks the whole album.

Twenty years later, on the last week-end of Feb. 2022, while Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience stayed in the Las Vegas area for concerts and "Creole4Kidz" appearances, their cargo trailer loaded with all the band's instruments and equipment was stolen during the night on the hotel parking lot : thousands of dollars gone ! What a nice way to give thanks to such a nice musician ! ■

► The Web site : https://www.terrancesimien.com
► Cynthia Simien, wife and manager of Terrance, accounts for the loss of the band's trailer and extra troubles on a special fundraiser Web page : https://www.gofundme.com/f/tqdqs-we-get-by-with-a-little-help-from-our-friends

Interviews
► In-depth on-line discussion about linguistic oppression in 2020 : https://youtu.be/TTHaAfESKGo
► On the "Levitt In Your Living Room" network in 2021 : https://youtu.be/5kWM3OZN4KA
► On "The Paul Leslie Hour" : https://youtu.be/W3NRe4zDr0s

Videos

► Recent virtual concert at The New Mexico Tech University auditorium during the Covid pandemics (skip the first 25 mn) : https://youtu.be/oiAwj2OIe_8
► "Mardi Gras Mambo" live stream concert from Lafayette in 2021 (including a 28-mn presentation of Creole culture & food, and interviews with members of The Zydeco Experience) : https://youtu.be/UG9sf_ATWzc

► On the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise in 2020 : https://youtu.be/fnNFjHk-9gc + a cooking demo on the same LRBC : https://youtu.be/LCkddYb27W8
► "Amazing Grace" medley at the Long's Park Amphitheater in Lancaster, PA, in 2019 : https://youtu.be/ScrOX9-8ZYM
► At the Fitzgerald's American Music Fest. in Berwyn, IL :
→ in 2016 : https://youtu.be/UUv4le5stMY
→ in 2019 : https://youtu.be/1YKOLSxj8HM

► At the Minnesota State Fair in 2018 : https://youtu.be/4pAfHrgDaew
► In Sellersville, PA, in 2017:
→ https://youtu.be/AUSB-tJ2Jpc
→ https://youtu.be/pC1mVe8zEt0
→ https://youtu.be/qS87LPDXjE0
► At the Redwood Ramble (a family friendly, music infused campout in Northern California) in 2016 : https://youtu.be/f3P1oNVfPSo

► At the 26th Annual Simi Valley (CA) Cajun & Blues Music Fest. in 2015, with Terrance Simien (vocals and accordion), Danny Williams (keyboard & vocals), Eric Johanson (lead guitar), Oreum Joubert (drums), Josh Lazo (saxophone & washboard), Stan Chambers (bass guitar & vocals) : https://youtu.be/W7kHChS0FA8
► On the 2015 Russia Tour :
→ Part 1 : https://youtu.be/PsC4AiEf1pk
→ Part 2 : https://youtu.be/MMGbjq-xODI
→ Part 3 : https://youtu.be/x3gvllKs1sQ
→ Part 4 : https://youtu.be/KZ1NKXbiALc
→ Раrt 5 : https://youtu.be/IrTRk5xxc3M

► In Kyiv (Ukraine) in 2015 (11-part playlist) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFA7FznavK1Y0FEV-kQJZ36g2ioKveBSY
► At the Green Harbor Blues Festival in Marshfield, MA, in 2015 : https://youtu.be/tmPltaMEnVw
► At the Crawfish Festival in Sussex County, NJ, in 2014 : https://youtu.be/t_JmIHsMOsU
► At the 17th Annual Rhythm & Roots Festival in Charlestown, RI, in 2014 : https://youtu.be/mV70SdHsRKA

► In Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) at The Gorky Park Summer Theater in 2012 :
→ Part 1 : https://youtu.be/IYIX9ZZWPn0
→ Part 2 : https://youtu.be/55YE2YzN9kk
→ Part 3 : https://youtu.be/KkPO3kZNx6w

► At the Sioux Falls JazzFest in South Dakota in 2011 : https://youtu.be/mzudESQ5HfA

 

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