Steve Riley and
the Mamou Playboys
La Toussaint
Rounder – 6068
Released – 1995
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This fine young band lead by accordion master Steve Riley intersperses traditional Cajun and Zydeco tunes with those that the band members have written, and they blend seamlessly. La Toussaint (All Saint’s Day) refers to the day after Halloween, when in Cajun country the cemeteries are packed with those still alive, bridging the gap between life and death. It is a day of remembrance and honoring the dead with joy and dancing. It bears a close resemblance to The Day of the Dead (celebrated the same day) in Mexico. This band is adventurous, it is a band that is willing to take chances with its playing, and at the same time pushes the music it embraces to new limits. They are willing to take the traditional Cajun tunes and mix them with oddments of rock
n’ roll and Zydeco. Their ideas are new and invigorating to a musical form that has been in place for centuries and breathes a new life into it. This band at times can play with triple lead fiddles, or maybe the triple-row accordion might take the lead, or it could be a more traditional guitar and fiddle lead. This is an extremely versatile band that has a very bright future in front of it. The brought in some very special guests to augment this recording with C. C. Adcock helping on guitar and C. J. Chenier contributing some fine alto saxophone. It is a good disc that will have you up and dancing with its energy and joy.