Louisiana Hot Sauce Creole Style

Between white Cajun formality and black zydeco funk lies the folky Creole style of French music epitomized by the late African American fiddler Canray Fontenot (1922-95), who managed to spread the Creole gospel of simultaneous sorrow and celebration worldwide while holding down his full-time job at a Welsh, Louisiana, feed store. The 27 tracks on this record represent Fontenot's lively and melodic playing over a period of 20 years. His early-'70s recordings with accordion player Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin will delight traditionalists, and such Fontenot compositions as "Joe Pitre a Deux Femmes (Joe Pete Got Two Women)" have evolved into Creole standards. Most of the album finds him joined by the great Beausoleil fiddler and neotraditionalist Michael Doucet, for more practiced renditions of a thoughtfully curated assortment of blues, waltzes, and two-steps. --Richard Gehr