I had my first recent opportunity to see Beausoleil avec Michaet Doucet at City Winery on September 3rd. I’d last seen them in the early 90s and had my last two purchased tickets go to waste due to first a car accident on the way to the venue 3 year ago and second a schedule conflict 2 years ago.
The group is iconic for Cajun/Zydeco/Lousiana folk music and Michael Doucet is a master on vocals, fiddle, and Cajun accordian. Doucet’s vocals in French and English are evocative of the hard life, the blues, of the Acadian/Cajun people of whom he told the story during a break between songs. Enjoy the opening sequence from the show –
The group has recorded 38 albums has won numerous awards and accolades over the last thirty years. What I sense, whether real or imagined is that many of today’s multi-intstrumental bluegrass oriented groups including String Cheese Incident, Greensky Bluegrass and Railroad Earth all draw upon the rich heritage that Beausoleil represents. Here’s an excellent number with Michael featuring the Cajun squeezebox: