Zydeco is a musical form that evolved in the southwestern areas of Louisiana in the early 20th century among the Creole and Cajun cultures. Zydeco is a musical style created by combining French folk music, African and Caribbean rhythms, and creole songs. In the 1980s, there a revival in South Louisiana music and food was happening, with Zydeco musicians and recording artists playing on morning talk programs and Cajun and Creole restaurants springing up all over the country. The music of the African Caribbean has been transferred and fused with the type of music from Louisiana’s Afro-French-speaking community, European colonialists’ music, and music from local marginal groups. The term Zydeco is said to have originated in Louisiana. Zydeco, which originated in southern Louisiana, has become as associated with the state as Mardi Gras has with New Orleans.
Zydeco, like the blues, has progressed from a set of rural, secluded, and destitute settings to commercially successful music. Zydeco’s forerunners, French slave and Caribbean music, can be traced back to colonial Louisiana and la-la music to the conclusion of World War II, but it did not take on its current shape until the 1950s.
Cajun music incorporated elements of continental French, Acadian, Anglo-Southern, and Afro music. Acadian peasants’ and black Creole music blended with Old World French folk tunes. These characteristics created a musical history of love ballads, lullabies, play songs, and drinking songs throughout southern Louisiana. Cajun bands are known for playing waltzes and emphasizing melody, including instruments such as the violin, steel guitar, tiny iron triangle, and diatonic accordion. Sinks and horns are not as frequent as they formerly were.
Black Creole music’s lyrics were full of sarcasm and mockery directed at fair-skinned Creoles who crossed over for white or haughty white Creoles. French slave melodies, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and African American blues were all used by Black Creoles. No Zydeco band is complete without le frottoir, a cropped vest, and a three-row accordion for piano. The three lines button is necessary because blue notes cannot be played without it to provide the blues component prevalent in Zydeco.
Lullabies, ballads, play songs, field chants, and songs from continental France were mixed with the music of Cajuns, black Creoles, and slaves. Creole immigrants and their descendants are the first to combine traditional Louisiana French music with blues and urban R&B to produce a new sound that can only be achieved with an accordion and a washboard in Texas. In the postwar era, Houston was the birthplace of Zydeco. It was there when the first time the word Zydeco was used.
In the late 1920s, Amede Ardoin, the first black Creole artist to record, came to fame in the Zydeco movement. The early style was defined by his highly syncopated accordion playing and inspired improvised singing. Ardoin’s hugely famous regional albums paved the path for following black singers, as well as influencing numerous Cajun musicians. His song, “Aimez-Moi Ce Soir”, is one of the best examples of the development of Zydeco. It is considered to be one of his most well-known songs and had a significant impact on the future of Zydeco music.
Radios were prevalent in many homes in the 1930s, and Cajun musicians began to imitate the music they heard. On the one hand, local performers were allowed to perform on the radio and build their notoriety. They began, on the other hand, to hear more music from other locations and incorporate it into their repertoire. Some artists simply translated successful country tunes into French, while others began to write new music in the genres and rhythms of popular songs.
The emergence of the phonograph, radio, motion pictures, and, more recently, television has had a dual impact, shifting traditional people’s preferences toward uniformity and replacing ancient folk dances and melodies with mass, homogenous entertainment. Furthermore, the return of World War II soldiers after years away, the finding of oil on several Kajun farms, industrialization, and the migration of leaders and employees from neighboring states led to further developments.
Clifton Chenier was a pivotal influence in the development of modern Zydeco. His ability to blend traditional French black Creole traditions with rock and R&B is at the core of modern Zydeco. He was the first to use the piano accordion, which provided traditional musicians with access to the entire chromatic scale. “I’m A Hog For You,” my favorite entry in the playlist, reflected his importance and innovative approach to zydeco music. It gives us a glimpse of the very essence of Zydeco, passionate, well-tempted, and at the same time sincere and soft.
Cleome Breaux and Calvin Carrier, Devey Balfa, and others represented black Creole-style, which attempted to keep the pre-zydeco early rural black Creole sound. However, as Zydeco moves toward the English-speaking American market, there is a distinct trend among Louisiana Creole performers toward soul and R&B.
Today’s Zydeco music encompasses a wide range of sounds, from combining Cajun, blues, rock & roll, and other influences to more traditional tunes. Strings, accordions, triangles, and spoons make an ancient sound while adding guitars and drums add a unique movement to the melodies. Zydeco music became a sound that reflects a person’s wishes, love, joy, and tears.