Balfa Toujours
LA POINTE
Rounder - 6086
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This latest offering from this fine tradition soaked band is brimming with the vitality that infects their live performances. Their is a warmth that comes from using the vintage analog equipment, and a fire that comes from their years together, and the 100's of years of great Cajun tradition that stands behind this band. Christine and Nelda Balfa are daughters of the great Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa, and descendants of some of the original Cajun settlers of the area. This recording has the sound and radiance as though it is musicians sitting down with their friends and playing for the sheer joy of playing. Listen to the smiles coming through the music in FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES, if you look real hard you can see the band's grin growing as Dirk Powell makes his accordion mimic the sounds of a train as it is pulling the the long haul on the way home. Most of the songs here have their roots in some kind of family history. It might be the passing words of a cousin, the humorous or tragic way an aunt of uncle did something that spawned a song, or it just might be the song was passed down in the family. They use on MARSHALL'S CLUB, a snippet of an old radio broadcast that Christine's father, Dewey, who has since departed, once used to open his weekly radio show which was broadcast from various clubs in the area. This is the music of the Cajun family. Many of the songs though traditional were the songs of the Balfa family, and it is a quite extended family, handed down from one generation to the next. Each generation added what was relevant to their situations, and removed what was no longer relevant. Thus the songs are in constant flux and they keep growing the more they get passed around. The lovers' sadness in LA VALSE DE BAYOU LA FOURCHE (THE BAYOU LAFOURCHE WALTZ), is heightened by the lyrics that Christine added to the basic waltz that Dewey and his brothers never recorded commercially. As with many of the Cajun songs, as important as the lovers is the setting of the song. In this case it happens to Bayou La Fourche, one of the primary waterways in Southern Louisiana on which their people settled. One of my favorites on the disc is the two fiddles intertwining on the LE REEL DE COURVILLE (COURVILLE'S REEL). This is a traditional tune that was the foundation for much of the old Cajun dance music, particularly before the accordion gained its popularity. This is a disc that savors the traditional, but is not afraid to combine it with new songs and ideas. It is a beautiful disc that should not be missed.
Songs, times, and writers:
KINGPIN SPECIAL - 3:27 - Kirk Powell
RESTEZ MOM ET POP, RESTEZ - 4:05 - Dirk Powell/Christine Balfa
FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES - 3:38 -Music - Octa Clark, Lyrics Dirk Powell
PA JANVIER - 3:57 - Dirk Powell/Christine Balfa
MARSHALL'S CLUB - 3:42 - Dirk Powell/Christine Balfa
LES TRACAS DE TODD BALFA - 3:34 - Dirk Powell/Christine Balfa
NONC CHARLOT - 2:24 - traditional
THE FREEMAN FONTENOT MEDLEY - 3:29 - traditional
BAYOU TECHE SPECIAL - 3:33 - traditional
BERNADETTE - 3:44 - trad.., arr. Kevin Wimmer
LA VALSE DE BAYOU LAFOURCHE - 2:42 - trad.. music,lyrics Christine Balfa
BLACKTOP BLUES - 2:34 - Octa Clark
LE REEL DE COURVILLE - 2:06 - traditional
UN ANGE POUR TOUT DE LA LOUSISIANE - 3:21 - Dirk Powell
Players
Christine Balfa - guitar, triangle, washboard, banjo, ukelele, vocals
Dirk Powell - accordion, fiddle, guitar, banjo, vocals
Kevin Wimmer - fiddle, vocals
with
Mitchell Reed - bass
Peter Schwarz - bass, fiddle
Nelda Balfa - triangle
Produced by - Peter Schwarz