Zachary Richard - Gombo (2017)

> The album

The poet of the bayous

Zachary Richard is not your ordinary zydeco man, he's way beyond that. A Louisiana folk music historian and preservator, a poet and defender of french cajun culture and language, a bridge between the bayous of the Mississippi delta and the snowy forests of Quebec and of the old Acadian country in New Brunswick, a protest singer and environnemental activist, a swamp rocker and cajun country-folk/country-blues musician... Zachary Richard is a monument, a highly admirable guy, both as a person and as a musician and gifted songwriter.

While France sadly celebrated the sixth anniversary of the Bataclan terrorist massacre a few months ago, how poignant it is to listen to "Au bal du Bataclan", a title in which Richard manages the "tour de force" of transforming horror into a tender love song. Isn't that the privilege of a great poet ?
His "ballades" ("Emile Benoît",  "Irwing Whale", "Catherine, Catherine", "L'exclus" -- a magnificent text about handicaped people --, "La Saskatchewan"...) largely confirm Zachary Richard's poetic dimension. Even his more zydeco and swamp rocking titles like "Zydeco Jump", "Pop the Gator", "Dans les Grands Chemins"..., are full of melancholy.

Those unfamiliar with Richard's discography would be mistaken to imagine that his music is old fashionned. No, the Louisianese uses all the ressources of modern recording techniques and instruments to produce very contemporary sounding songs.
Though Gumbo is probably one of his less zydeco album (if reducing zydeco to a mere dance music -- which would be a sad mistake), Richard remains loyal to his fight for keeping cajun culture alive by making a large use of french, emphasized by the presence of two french-speaking guests : Robert Charlebois from Quebec and Angélique Kidjo from Benin.

A superb album that leaves an undefinable feeling of melancholy deep in the heart and soul, long after the last song has faded away. ■

A man proud of his roots & culture

● In French, témoignage sur l'influence musicale de Zachary Richard sur la communauté acadienne de Louisiane: https://youtu.be/bEypeNpCoV4
● Interview recorded from Casey Radio in Melbourne (Australia) in 2003: https://youtu.be/5RmUBm8TKas
● "Sur les traces de Zachary Richard", a portrait of a major artist of the French-speaking world: https://youtu.be/4XrnZIgUMbk
● Zachary Richard en entrevue: https://youtu.be/ZKJTYcOByiE

● "Against the Tide", a documentary by Zachary Richard about Cajun history: https://youtu.be/ywHH1xAwdn8● Conference about the persistence of Acadian cultural identity in Louisiana at the Acadian World Congress: https://youtu.be/Xt4IacCL4ec
● TV report on Zachary Richard, in Lafayette in 1982: https://youtu.be/ZmuxNZn4q7w
● About Zachary Richard's book "Les Acadiens de la Louisiane" on the history of the Acadians, an important one of several groups of French speaking immigrants who forged the Louisianese culture: https://youtu.be/lsDB85lEsik

The Cajun troubadour on stage
● With the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Austin City Limits in 1994 (55mn): https://youtu.be/A0ipDidBlcY

● With The New Orleans Revue (also feat. Johnny Adams, Buddy Guy, the Wild Magnolias, Doctor John, Willy De Ville...) at the 1992 Pistoia Blues Festival (Italy): https://youtu.be/EzJX3kB1wQQ
● At the Louisiana Music Factory in 2015: https://youtu.be/BfjAo6f42WQ
● On the Italian Rai TV channel with Maria Muldaur and Doctor John in 1992: https://youtu.be/qb9ZHJB8doE
● "Pagayer" live in 2001: https://youtu.be/u6Y0mPhEpHQ
● "Crawfish" at the Festivoix in Trois Rivières (Quebec) in 2015: https://youtu.be/ZZ7D4bw0-Go

● "Jean Batailleur" live in 2010 in Trois Rivières (with Simon Godin: guitar, Mario Légaré: bass, Paul Picard: percussion): https://youtu.be/-zUAMOAFlHk
● At the Montreal Festi Blues: https://youtu.be/BZ2krBdS57I
● At the french Avignon Blues Festival in 2014: https://youtu.be/1E72D5V9C5s
● At the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette, 2013: https://youtu.be/tzfrJ3n0fa8
● At the 2014 Festival International de Louisiane with Sonny Landreth (on the extreme left) on slide guitar (amateur shooting): https://youtu.be/pjsgAouybKM● At La Louisiane Festiblues: https://youtu.be/FkBuYl3mwSQ
● "Je voudrais aimer": https://youtu.be/OZG7RYN6yLo
● "La Mer": https://youtu.be/PF9GS9Mwog0
● At the "Lumière sur le Lac" Festival in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (Quebec): https://youtu.be/f0QLC2j36ps
● "La ballade du Irving Whale": https://youtu.be/8cHTiVtM40w & https://youtu.be/P-O7OUdiiaA

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