Celebrate Mardi Gras with BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet [LIVE]
$15
Michael Doucet, fiddle & vocals
David Doucet, acoustic guitar & vocals
Billy Ware, percussion
Tommy Alesi, drums
Chad Huval, accordions
Ben Williams, bass guitar
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet (BeauSoleil), the biggest band in Cajun music and a two-time Grammy winner, brings the Mardi Gras party home with a live-streamed concert of French Music that will make you raise a glass and have a good time. Led by Michael Doucet, “a consummate violinist of the highest order” (Pop Matters), BeauSoleil’s exuberant offering of Cajun and Creole music, spiced with zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, folk, and other styles will conjure visions of bright floats, generous throws, and King cake, as you and your krewe dance the night away.
BeauSoleil is Michael Doucet, fiddle, vocals, arranger/composer; his brother, David Doucet, acoustic guitar, vocals; Billy Ware, percussion; Tommy Alesi, drums; Chad Huval, accordions; and Ben Williams, bass guitar and sound/engineer.
“Mardi Gras is a crazy, magic time, that reminds us that we’re here on this world to have a good time!” says Doucet. “Southwest Louisiana is like no other place in the world, we have our unique people, unique music, and unique cuisine. We’re ready to play, party, and channel everything we love about this incredible culture and place into our music just like we are jamming on a float going down Bourbon Street,” he adds.
BeauSoleil is celebrating its 46th anniversary year. A recipient of the International Folk Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award and the first Cajun band to win a Grammy, the group is notorious for bringing even the most staid audience to its feet. Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members and driven by Doucet’s spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil’s distinctive sound summons the cultures and backgrounds of New Orleans jazz, blues rock, folk, swamp pop, Zydeco, country, and bluegrass. From Cajun waltzes, two-steps, blues, ballads, and grooves, their sound showcases innovation and tradition, exploring the perspectives of music from Southern Louisiana.
What they play isn't necessarily Cajun music; it's “vibrant, thoughtful fusions” (Boston Globe). While Cajun music is associated with being from Southwest Louisiana, it draws its influences from places as disparate as Nova Scotia, France, and the Delta Blues. Throughout his lifetime, Doucet has worked to preserve Cajun and Creole culture in Southwest Louisiana, seeded from the migration of French citizens who became Acadians in Canada, and then Cajuns in the U.S. after their 18th century deportation.
Critics unanimously agree that it is “bon temps, every time they play,” (The New York Times). The band has performed in every state, in 33 countries, at Jimmy Carter’s presidential inauguration, and even played with Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Super Bowl XXX Halftime Show (1997). Audiences worldwide fell in love with BeauSoleil through its on-screen appearance in HBO's hit series Treme, set in New Orleans, and the band’s recurring spots on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. BeauSoleil was the first Cajun band to win a Grammy with L’amour Ou La Folie (Traditional Folk Album – 1998), and then a second Grammy in 2010 for Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Though fascinated by music of all kinds, Michael Doucet is defined by his deep connection with, and dedication to, the music of the sacred French-Cajun culture. As a young man, Doucet earned a Folk Arts Apprenticeship from the National Endowment of the Arts, which allowed him to seek out every surviving Cajun musician and learn from them in person. He studied at the feet of genre fathers including Dewey Balfa, Varise Conner, Sady Courville, Luderin Darbone, Canray Fontenot, Dennis McGee, and many others, even encouraging some to return to performing publicly.
Doucet founded BeauSoleil – named for the leader of the Acadian resistance to British deportation efforts in the mid-18th century – in 1975 with his brother, Davis. The group released its first album in 1977 and became one of the most well-known bands performing both traditional and original music rooted in the folk tunes of Louisiana. In 1985, the band members quit their day jobs and never went back. In 2005, the National Endowment of the Arts recognized Doucet’s integral involvement with the Cajun world, awarding him the esteemed National Heritage Fellowship, one of the highest honors in U.S. folk arts, as well as the United States Artists Fellowship in 2007.
From the Grand Ole Opry to Newport Folk, from concert hall to dance floor and now on computer screens, the music of BeauSoleil continues to captivate audiences the world over. BeauSoleil has toured extensively in the U.S. and internationally. Recent performances include New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Smithsonian Folklife Festival (Washington, DC), Voodoo Fest (New Orleans), Merlefest (NC), Houston International Festival, TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, On The Waterfront Festival (IL), Narrows Festival of the Arts (MA), Chandler Jazz Festival (AZ), Black Swamp Arts Festival (OH), Meltdown Festival (England), and many more.
The livestream will take place at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific.