THE BAND COURTBOUILLON
The Band Courtbouillon
Valcour 0016

www.valcourrecords.com
 

It doesn’t get much better than this for fans of that dance music-oriented Cajun sound that emerged from the steamy swamplands of South West Louisiana (one of the last outposts of native American folk music) in the 1920s and 1930s with recording stars like Joe Falcon, the Hackberry Ramblers and Harry Choates. This intentionally nostalgic look back at the music’s Golden Age features a trio of contemporary Cajun band leaders—Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy along with bass player Eric Frey on an imaginative mix of traditional numbers like the bluesily rocking “Bosco Blues,” a trio of inspired two-steps and the ruefully, rousing accordion and fiddle-framed “Les Flammes De L’enfer” alongside some salient covers. The only exception being Riley’s abiding title song that opens the deck. Picks among the covers begin with a doleful redo of DL Menard’s lament “She Made Me Lose My Mind” and a rough and ready recall of Iry Lejuene’s classic “The Convict Waltz.” Recommended.

— Gary von Tersch