The French-Cajun sounds of BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet come to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Since forming in 1975, Grammy winner BeauSoleil has claimed an undisputed role as the most esteemed Cajun group in music. BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet takes the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana and artfully blend elements of zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more into a satisfying musical recipe. From The Grand Ole Opry to Newport Folk, from concert hall to dance floor, the music of BeauSoleil continues to captivate audiences the world over.
Band leader and fiddle playing vocalist Michael Doucet is defined by his deep connection with, and dedication to, the music of the sacred French-Cajun culture. A Folk Arts Apprenticeship from the National Endowment of the Arts spurred Doucet to seek out every surviving Cajun musician and learn from them in person.
In 2005 the National Endowment of the Arts again recognized Doucet's integral involvement with the Cajun world, awarding him the esteemed National Heritage Fellowship, and then the United States Artists Fellowship in 2007.
Doucet has garnered acclaim by developing his own flavor of Cajun music and he and his band represent many "firsts" for the genre including focusing on the lead and twin fiddle styles of the originals of Acadian folk music. They broke ground featuring an acoustic guitar as the lead instrument, replacing the lead accordion or steel guitar, and were the first to include the frottoir, the rub board borrowed from Cajun music's Zydeco cousin.
BeauSoleil was the first Cajun band to win a Grammy with L'amour Ou La Folie (Traditional Folk Album - 1998) and a second Grammy in 2010 with Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The band is a regular guest on Garrison Keillor's National Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion, where Keillor has dubbed them as "the best Cajun band in the world." The band's music is so integral to the Cajun culture that BeauSoleil has been featured on the New Orleans-based hit HBO program "Treme."
The Boston Globe noted, "The remarkable thing about Cajun revivalists BeauSoleil is that they are still inviting us to ask what's new. BeauSoleil isn't neo-anything. This ensemble finds freshness not by infusing vintage styles with contemporary sonics, but with vibrant, thoughtful fusions."
View a video of BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet with "Zydeco Gris Gris" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBwRddleQJ8.
Tickets for BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet are $28 and $38 and are available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, or call 247-7657.
