#barry jean ancelet

[morebedsidebooks]

Ten Favourite Posts from Around My Blog

In honour of my upcoming ten year anniversary of blogging this month, I thought I’d look back at some of my most memorable posts.

Arthur Rimbaud

One of my favorite French poets from my #FrenchLitTimeTravel project, and author of a 19th century satirical poem I took my blog name from.

Cajun and Creole Folktales

A collection from many storytellers by Louisianan folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet, this title started off my #Francophone50 project, reading authors from around the world who write in French (varieties).  

Earl Cain Series by Yuki Kaori

 Whie not the comic artist who introduced me to Japanese comics, Yuki Kaori is the artist whose work made me fall in love with girls’ comics. Her Earl Cain series, which was unfortunately censored in English release, remains a favorite.   

Hagio Moto

I have written extensively about distinguished Japanese comic artist Hagio Moto. Covering several of her works translated in English or titles that I hope one day will reach new audiences. But it’s my post on her short comic Iguana Girl that continues to resonate and hold the top spot on my blog.

Kaze to Ki no Uta by Takemiya Keiko

My introduction to a masterpiece of Japanese comic artist Takemiya Keiko’s career. This long 1970s shônen ai comics series has been translated in a few countries in Europe but, is still not available in English.

Pan Books for the Seasons

Since I’ve started my blog the number of books with pan characters has grown exponentially. One tradition was to make seasonal themed booklists. Be it around Pan Pride Day with wintry stories,  Pan Visibility Day for sunny reads, plus autumnal reads and BiWeek recognizing the bisexual+ community. I’m happy to say there’s truly enough pan rep out there to mark every season.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

My multi part deep dive into the 19th century controversial novel by the (in)famous Irish writer Oscar Wilde.

Poison Ivy

Through all the years and iterations my longtime favourite character from US DC Comics is Poison Ivy. I’m usually writing or chatting about her in some capacity.

 Resources for Banned Books Week and Beyond

Intellectual freedom and the right to read are important core principles. Useful in continuing challenging environments is my post on US resources to combat book bans.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Yoshinaga Fumi

The food comic is one of my favourite genres and nobody does it quite like Japanese comic artist Yoshinaga Fumi. Her What Did You Eat Yesterday? series, ongoing at over 20 volumes, is also a lovely slice-of-life series about two middle-aged gay men.

[theartscenter-blog]

Masters of Cajun Accordion

UNC Library’s Southern Folklife Collection and the Friends of the Library Present the Masters of Cajun Accordion Festival at The ArtsCenter on Sunday, October 1st Interview: Steve Weiss Posted by Jenks Miller

Residents of Chapel Hill/Carrboro enjoy proximity to one of America’s foremost archival resources for American folk music and popular culture, UNC Library’s Southern Folklife Collection. The SFC grew out of the Curriculum in Folklore at UNC -- which was itself among the country’s first graduate programs in folklore when it was established in 1940 -- and features materials documenting the development of all folk musics endemic to the South, including old-time, country-western, hillbilly, bluegrass, blues, folk, gospel, rock and roll, Cajun and zydeco. The collection spans an impressive range of media: according to the library, the SFC now contains “over 250,000 sound recordings, 3,000 video recordings and 8 million feet of motion picture film as well as tens of thousands of photographs, song folios, posters, manuscripts, books, serials, research files and ephemera.”

One of the challenges facing public archival collections of this size is how to make them accessible not only to researchers, but to the populations they represent. To meet this demand for accessibility, the SFC regularly presents lectures, concerts, and viewings of its materials, often curated to reflect certain topics of interest in today’s popular culture. In this way, archives like the Southern Folklife Collection ensure that we remain informed by our many histories.

The next event to feature materials from the SFC archives will be the Masters of Cajun Accordion Festival, presented by the SFC and the Friends of the Library at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro on Sunday, October 1st. This event celebrates the forthcoming release of Swampland Jewels, a compilation of classic Cajun music produced in a new partnership between the SFC and Hillsborough’s Yep Roc Records. We spoke with Steve Weiss, Curator of the Southern Folklife Collection, about the history of the archive and the details of the Masters of Cajun Accordion Festival. (interview continues below)

The ArtsCenter: First off, I wanted to get a little background on the Southern Folklife Collection for readers who may be unfamiliar with the special collections archives at UNC. The SFC is unique not only in its significant size: it also feels more outward-facing, or interactive, than many cultural archives concerned primarily with preservation. Was the SFC originally designed as a platform for festivals, conferences, and publications, or did that function develop as the archive grew over the years?   

Steve Weiss: When the Southern Folklife Collection first opened in 1989, it was celebrated with a large event called Sounds of the South which included an academic conference, a concert (held at the ArtsCenter!) and was followed up with a book of the conference proceedings. Ten years later, when I started as the director of the collection, the SFC was co-publishing our second book, a major reference work entitled Country Music Sources which spawned another academic symposium. Since then I've made public programming and publications a more active part of our mission, culminating now in our partnership with YepRoc Records. 

TAC: This year, the SFC has been involved in presentations on depression-era grassroots music and left-wing politics (March's "Depression Folk" lecture and concert); the twenty-five year partnership between farmworkers and students in the Southeast, as chronicled in Student Action with Farmworkers' archive of photographs and oral histories (August's "Más de Una Historia"); and the legacy of Eno River conservation efforts (August's "Saving the River One Song at a Time: The Eno River Festival Legacy"); among other themes. The topics here feel less like dry history and more like the living and breathing issues currently debated in our state politics and across the Southeast at large. Looking at the SFC's activity since the 2016 election season, I'm reminded of that famous Faulkner quote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." To what extent are the SFC's various activities informed by today's headlines and political discourse? Do you make an active effort to engage on these issues, or is this another example of history's seemingly inescapable cyclical nature?

 SW: Great question! It is inevitable, because of where we live and the important work done by grassroots organizations in our community.  The work documented by the materials in the library is never really dead, only dusty if there is no one to make sure it is promoted to the public.

TAC: The Masters of Cajun Accordion Festival, which will be presented by the SFC and the Friends of the Library here at The ArtsCenter on October 1st, features a free 6:00pm lecture from Barry Jean Ancelet, aka Jean Arceneaux, a Cajun folklorist, author, poet, and lyricist. Before retiring from the University of Louisiana Lafayette faculty, Ancelet gave a talk on "the theory and practice of activist folklore" for UL Lafayette's Last Lecture series. Some of us may associate folklore with storytelling and oral history, but this sounds different. What do folklorists mean by "activist folklore?" Do you know what Ancelet will be speaking about on October 1st?

SW: I've invited Barry to speak on the Cajun Music. I'm not familiar with the definition of "activist folklore" as Barry has presented it, but it isn't hard to imagine as the role of the folklorist is working with communities, and confronting the issues communities face is inescapable. Of the collections in the SFC, the late folklorist Guy Carawan comes to mind as a great example as he was actively involved in voter rights issues while living in the Johns Island, SC community and recording fieldwork. 

 TAC: The festival also features a ticketed 7:30pm concert by Jo-El Sonnier with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. Both Sonnier and Riley are living legends of the accordion, with records on Rounder, Mercury, RCA, and Capitol, among other labels (Sonnier's cover of Richard Thompson's upbeat and tragicomic "Tear-Stained Letter" was a country radio hit single in the 1988). Will there be two separate sets, or will Sonnier perform with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys? What can audiences expect from these artists in a live setting? 

 SW: Jo-El will be performing in a small trio setting. Steve will be playing with the Mamou Playboys. I imagine there will be some nice collaborations during the show. 

 TAC: What else does the Southern Folklife Collection have in store for 2017? Will we see more presentations in off-campus locations in Chapel Hill and Carrboro like The ArtsCenter?

SW: On October 26th, we will be presenting an evening with banjoist and scholar Stephen Wade who will be performing music from his new Smithsonian Folkways CD Across the Amerikee: Showpieces from Coal Camp to Cattle Trail. That event will be held in Wilson Library. In early 2018 the SFC will release our second album with YepRoc, a live recording of Doc Watson at the beginning of his solo career in 1963. We hope to do something for the record release at MerleFest this Spring.  

More information: Masters of Cajun Accordion Festival 

Presented by the Southern Folklife Collection and the Friends of the Library Date: October 1st, 2017  Location: The ArtsCenter in Chapel Hill  Tickets: www.artscenterlive.org.   Schedule: 5:30pm Reception, Nicholson Gallery/Lobby  6:00pm Lecture: Barry Jean Ancelet (University of Louisiana, Lafayette), West End Theater  7:30pm Concert: Jo-El Sonnier with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Earl & Rhoda Wynn Theater  Concert is ticketed. Reception and lecture are free and open to the public. CD/LP bundles include a copy of the record Swampland Jewels.  For more information contact Liza Terll, Friends of the Library,  liza_terll@unc.edu (919) 548-1203 

www.library.unc.edu

[bongaboi]

59th Annual Grammy Awards Winners Part 2

Country

Best Country Solo Performance

"My Church" – Maren Morris

"Love Can Go to Hell" – Brandy Clark

"Vice" – Miranda Lambert

"Church Bells" – Carrie Underwood

"Blue Ain't Your Color" – Keith Urban

Best Country Duo/Group Performance

"Jolene" – Pentatonix featuring Dolly Parton

"Different for Girls" – Dierks Bentley featuring Elle King

"21 Summer" – Brothers Osborne

"Setting the World on Fire" – Kenny Chesney & P!nk

"Think of You" – Chris Young with Cassadee Pope

Best Country Song

"Humble and Kind"

"Blue Ain't Your Color"

"Die a Happy Man"

"My Church"

"Vice"

Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw)

Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey & Steven Lee Olsen, songwriters (Keith Urban)

Sean Douglas, Thomas Rhett & Joe Spargur, songwriters (Thomas Rhett)

busbee & Maren Morris, songwriters (Maren Morris)

Miranda Lambert, Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

Best Country Album

A Sailor's Guide to Earth – Sturgill Simpson

Big Day in a Small Town – Brandy Clark

Full Circle – Loretta Lynn

Hero – Maren Morris

Ripcord – Keith Urban

New Age

Best New Age Album

White Sun II – White Sun

Orogen – John Burke

Dark Sky Island – Enya

Inner Passion – Peter Kater & Tina Guo

Rosetta – Vangelis

Jazz

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" – John Scofield, soloist

"Countdown" – Joey Alexander, soloist

"In Movement" – Ravi Coltrane, soloist

"We See" – Fred Hersch, soloist

"I Concentrate on You" – Brad Mehldau, soloist

Best Jazz Vocal Album

Take Me to the Alley – Gregory Porter

Sound of Red – René Marie

Upward Spiral – Branford Marsalis Quartet with special guest Kurt Elling

Harlem on My Mind – Catherine Russell

The Sting Variations – The Tierney Sutton Band

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Country for Old Men – John Scofield

Book of Intuition – Kenny Barron Trio

Dr. Um – Peter Erskine

Sunday Night at the Vanguard – The Fred Hersch Trio

Nearness – Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom – Ted Nash Big Band

Real Enemies – Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

MONK'estra, Vol. 1 – John Beasley

Kaleidoscope Eyes: Music of the Beatles – John Daversa

All L.A. Band – Bob Mintzer

Best Latin Jazz Album

Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac – Chucho Valdés

Entre Colegas – Andy González

Madera Latino: A Latin Jazz Perspective on the Music of Woody Shaw – Brian Lynch & various artists

Canto América – Michael Spiro/Wayne Wallace La Orquesta Sinfonietta

30 – Trio Da Paz

Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music

Best Gospel Performance/Song

"God Provides" – Tamela Mann

"It's Alright, It's OK" – Shirley Caesar featuring Anthony Hamilton

"You're Bigger [Live]" – Jekalyn Carr

"Made a Way [Live]" – Travis Greene

"Better" – Hezekiah Walker

Kirk Franklin, songwriter

Stanley Brown & Courtney Rumble, songwriters

Allundria Carr, songwriter

Travis Greene, songwriter

Jason Clayborn, Gabriel Hatcher & Hezekiah Walker, songwriters

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

"Thy Will" – Hillary Scott & The Scott Family

"Trust in You" – Lauren Daigle

"Priceless" – For King & Country

"King of the World" – Natalie Grant

"Chain Breaker" – Zach Williams

Bernie Herms, Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband, songwriters

Lauren Daigle, Michael Farren & Paul Mabury, songwriters

Benjamin Backus, Seth Mosley, Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone & Tedd Tjornhom, songwriters

Natalie Grant, Becca Mizell & Samuel Mizell, songwriters

Mia Fieldes, Jonathan Smith & Zach Williams, songwriters

Best Gospel Album

Losing My Religion – Kirk Franklin

Listen – Tim Bowman, Jr.

Fill This House – Shirley Caesar

A Worshipper's Heart [Live] – Todd Dulaney

Demonstrate [Live] – William Murphy

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

Love Remains – Hillary Scott & The Scott Family

Poets & Saints – All Sons & Daughters

American Prodigal – Crowder

Be One – Natalie Grant

Youth Revival [Live] – Hillsong Young & Free

Best Roots Gospel Album

Hymns That Are Important to Us – Joey + Rory

Better Together – Gaither Vocal Band

Nature's Symphony in 432 – The Isaacs

Hymns and Songs of Inspiration – Gordon Mote

God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson – (Various Artists); Jeffrey Gaskill, producer

Latin

Best Latin Pop Album

Un Besito Más – Jesse & Joy

Ilusión – Gaby Moreno

Similares – Laura Pausini

Seguir Latiendo – Sanalejo

Buena Vida – Diego Torres

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album

iLevitable – ile

L.H.O.N. (La Humanidad o Nosotros) – Illya Kuryaki & The Valderamas

Buenaventura – La Santa Cecilia

Los Rakas – Los Rakas

Amor Supremo – Carla Morrison

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)

Un Azteca en el Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo) – Vicente Fernández

Raíces – Banda El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga

Hecho a Mano – Joss Favela

Generación Maquinaria Est. 2006 – La Maquinaria Norteña

Tributo a Joan Sebastian y Rigoberto Alfaro – Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea

Best Tropical Latin Album

Donde Están? – Jose Lugo & Guasábara Combo

Conexión – Fonseca

La Fantasia Homenaje a Juan Formell – Formell y Los Van Van

35 Aniversario – Grupo Niche

La Sonora Santanera en Su 60 Aniversario – Sonora Santanera

American Roots

Best American Roots Performance

"House of Mercy" – Sarah Jarosz

"Ain't No Man" – The Avett Brothers

"Mother's Children Have a Hard Time" – The Blind Boys of Alabama

"Factory Girl" – Rhiannon Giddens

"Wreck You" – Lori McKenna

Best American Roots Song

"Kid Sister"

"Alabama at Night"

"City Lights"

"Gulfstream"

"Wreck You"

Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers)

Robbie Fulks, songwriter (Robbie Fulks)

Jack White, songwriter (Jack White/The White Stripes)

Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero, songwriters (Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars)

Lori McKenna & Felix McTeigue, songwriters (Lori McKenna)

Best Americana Album

This Is Where I Live – William Bell

True Sadness – The Avett Brothers

The Cedar Creek Sessions – Kris Kristofferson

The Bird and the Rifle – Lori McKenna

Kid Sister – The Time Jumpers

Best Bluegrass Album

Coming Home – O'Connor Band with Mark O'Connor

Original Traditional – Blue Highway

Burden Bearer – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

The Hazel and Alice Sessions – Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands

North by South – Claire Lynch

Best Traditional Blues Album

Porcupine Meat – Bobby Rush

Can't Shake the Feeling – Lurrie Bell

Live at the Greek Theatre – Joe Bonamassa

Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger's Songbook: Volumes I & II) – Luther Dickinson

The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers – Vasti Jackson

Best Contemporary Blues Album

The Last Days of Oakland – Fantastic Negrito

Love Wins Again – Janiva Magness

Bloodline – Kenny Neal

Give It Back to You – The Record Company

Everybody Wants a Piece – Joe Louis Walker

Best Folk Album

Undercurrent – Sarah Jarosz

Silver Skies Blue – Judy Collins & Ari Hest

Upland Stories – Robbie Fulks

Factory Girl – Rhiannon Giddens

Weighted Mind – Sierra Hull

Best Regional Music Album

E Walea – Kalani Pe'a

Broken Promised Land – Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard

It's a Cree Thing – Northern Cree

Gulfstream – Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars

I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country – (Various Artists); Joshua Caffery & Joel Savoy, producers

Reggae

Best Reggae Album

Ziggy Marley – Ziggy Marley

Sly & Robbie Presents... Reggae For Her – Devin Di Dakta & J.L

Rose Petals – J Boog

Everlasting – Raging Fyah

Falling Into Place – Rebelution

SOJA: Live in Virginia – SOJA

World Music

Best World Music Album

Sing Me Home – Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble

Destiny – Celtic Woman

Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers – Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Land of Gold – Anoushka Shankar

Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live – Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil

Children

Best Children's Album

Infinity Plus One – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Explorer of the World – Frances England

Novelties – Recess Monkey

Press Play – Brady Rymer And The Little Band That Could

Saddle Up – The Okee Dokee Brothers

Spoken Word

Best Spoken Word Album

(includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling)

In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox – Carol Burnett

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer

M Train – Patti Smith

Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A.Punk (John Doe with Tom DeSavia) – (Various Artists)

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink – Elvis Costello

Comedy

Best Comedy Album

Talking for Clapping – Patton Oswalt

...America...Great... – David Cross

American Myth – Margaret Cho

Boyish Girl Interrupted – Tig Notaro

Live at the Apollo – Amy Schumer

Musical Theatre

Best Musical Theater Album

The Color Purple – Danielle Brooks, Cynthia Erivo & Jennifer Hudson, principal soloists; Stephen Bray, Van Dean, Frank Filipetti, Roy Furman, Joan Raffe, Scott Sanders & Jhett Tolentino, producers; (Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis, composers/lyricists) (New Broadway Cast)

Bright Star – Carmen Cusack, principal soloist; Jay Alix, Peter Asher & Una Jackman, producers; Steve Martin, composer; Edie Brickell, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Fiddler on the Roof – Danny Burstein, principal soloist; Louise Gund, David Lai & Ted Sperling, producers; (Jerry Bock, composer; Sheldon Harnick, lyricist) (2016 Broadway Cast)

Kinky Boots – Killian Donnelly & Matt Henry, principal soloists; Sammy James, Jr., Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Oremus & William Wittman, producers; (Cyndi Lauper, composer & lyricist) (Original West End Cast)

Waitress – Jessie Mueller, principal soloist; Neal Avron, Sara Bareilles & Nadia DiGiallonardo, producers; Sara Bareilles, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media

Miles Ahead – (Miles Davis & Various Artists)

Amy – (Various Artists)

Straight Outta Compton – (Various Artists)

Suicide Squad (Collector's Edition) – (Various Artists)

Vinyl: The Essentials Season 1 – (Various Artists)

Steve Berkowitz, Don Cheadle & Robert Glasper, compilation producers

Salaam Remi & Mark Ronson, compilation producers

O'Shea Jackson & Andre Young, compilation producers

Mike Caren, Darren Higman & Kevin Weaver, compilation producers

Stewart Lerman, Randall Poster & Kevin Weaver, compilation producers

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams, composer

Bridge of Spies – Thomas Newman, composer

Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone, composer

The Revenant – Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, composers

Stranger Things Volume 1 – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, composers

Stranger Things Volume 2 – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, composers

Best Song Written for Visual Media

"Can't Stop the Feeling!" – Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (performed by Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, Walt Dohrn, Ron Funches, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Kunal Nayyar)

"Heathens" – Tyler Joseph, songwriter (performed by Twenty One Pilots)

"Just Like Fire" – Oscar Holter, Max Martin, P!nk & Shellback, songwriters (performed by P!nk)

"Purple Lamborghini" – Shamann Cooke, Sonny Moore & William Roberts, songwriters (performed by Skrillex & Rick Ross)

"Try Everything" – Mikkel S. Eriksen, Sia Furler & Tor Erik Hermansen, songwriters (performed by Shakira)

"The Veil" – Peter Gabriel, songwriter (performed by Peter Gabriel)

Composing

Best Instrumental Composition

"Spoken at Midnight"

"Bridge of Spies (End Title)"

"The Expensive Train Set (An Epic Sarahnade for Big Band)"

"Flow"

"L'Ultima Diligenza Di Red Rock – Verisione Integrale"

Ted Nash, composer (Ted Nash Big Band)

Thomas Newman, composer (Thomas Newman)

Tim Davies, composer (Tim Davies Big Band)

Alan Ferber, composer (Alan Ferber Nonet)

Ennio Morricone, composer (Ennio Morricone)

Arranging

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella

You and I

Ask Me Now

Good 'Swing' Wenceslas

Linus & Lucy

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

We Three Kings

Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)

John Beasley, arranger (John Beasley)

Sammy Nestico, arranger (The Count Basie Orchestra)

Christian Jacob, arranger (The Phil Norman Tentet)

John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa)

Ted Nash, arranger (Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals

Flintstones

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Want to Know a Secret

The Music

Somewhere (Dirty Blvd) (Extended Version)

Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)

Gordon Goodwin, arranger (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band Featuring Take 6)

John Daversa, arranger (John Daversa Featuring Renee Olstead)

Alan Broadbent, arranger (Kristin Chenoweth)

Billy Childs & Larry Klein, arrangers (Lang Lang Featuring Lisa Fischer & Jeffrey Wright)

Packaging

Best Recording Package

Blackstar

Anti (Deluxe Edition)

Human Performance

Sunset Motel

22, A Million

Jonathan Barnbrook, art director (David Bowie)

Ciarra Pardo & Robyn Fenty, art directors (Rihanna)

Andrew Savage, art director (Parquet Courts)

Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (Reckless Kelly)

Eric Timothy Carlson, art director (Bon Iver)

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package

Edith Piaf 1915–2015

401 Days

I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It

Paper Wheels (Deluxe Limited Edition)

Tug of War (Deluxe Edition)

Gérard Lo Monaco, art director (Edith Piaf)

Jonathan Dagan & Mathias Høst Normark, art directors (J.Views)

Samuel Burgess-Johnson & Matthew Healy, art directors (The 1975)

Matt Taylor, art director (Trey Anastasio)

Simon Earith & James Musgrave, art directors (Paul McCartney)

[callofdutydaily-blog1]

D.L. Menard, Cajun music ambassador, is dead at 85

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - D.L. Menard, the Cajun artist whose melody "The Back Door" turned into a song of devotion for his way of life and conveyed him to 38 nations on State Department visits, has kicked the bucket at 85 years old. Menard kicked the bucket Thursday at the home where he lived with his granddaughter Nelda Menard in Scott, Louisiana, as per the Louisiana Funeral Services and Crematory in Broussard site. Counting covers by different specialists, the Cajun French melody has sold more than 1 million duplicates throughout the decades, as per Floyd Solieau, whose Swallow Record Co. discharged "La Porte en Arriere" as a solitary in July 1962. In this July 2, 2017, photograph Cajun performer D.L. Menard goes to an occasion at the Acadian Museum in the place where he grew up of Erath, La., where a representation, seen behind him, was displayed as a major aspect of a tribute to the performer. Menard, whose melody "The Back Door" is among the most prominent in Cajun music, is dead at 85 years old. Louisiana Funeral Services and Crematory in Broussard said on its site that Menard kicked the bucket Thursday, July 27 at his home in Scott, Louisiana. (Janet McConnaughey by means of AP) Menard turned into a goodwill envoy for Cajun music and culture, the legacy of individuals who settled in the straight nation of south Louisiana subsequent to being removed from Acadia in French Canada 250 years prior. Talking with The Associated Press in late June, he said the resurgence of Cajun culture over the most recent couple of decades made him feel "fantastic. Since that was free movies us. It was us." "The Back Door " is a dapper tune about a man who gets so alcoholic he sneaks home through the indirect access. Amid a July 2 tribute to Menard and the tune's 55th commemoration, folklorist and resigned French educator Barry Jean Ancelet said "La Porte en Arriere," not "Jolie Blon'" ought to be viewed as the Cajun national song of praise. "'Jolie Blon' is a melody about a young lady who went to Texas. 'La Porte' is about a person who slips back in at home through the secondary passage," he said. "Presently I ask you - which one best portrays us Cajuns?" Moreover, he stated, almost every youth who needs to play Cajun music takes in "The Back Door." Menard performed for the last time in broad daylight at that July 2 tribute in Erath, the place where he grew up. Despite the fact that he must be helped over the stage and he performed from a wheelchair, his voice was still firm and solid as he sang "The Back Door" and numerous different melodies. The group included two of Menard's awesome granddaughters, who unmistakably delighted in the twists and spins of Cajun moving. In spite of the fact that Menard expressed "The Back Door" in the Cajun French he grew up talking, he utilized English phonics since when he was a kid, educators rebuffed understudies for talking the vernacular at school, instead of show them how to peruse and compose French. "Sometimes you were paddled. You were whipped," Menard said. "Goodness, no doubt. You needed to communicate in English." Menard was once in a while called the Cajun Hank Williams, and the nation artist was among his legends. He talked quickly with Williams once at an execution in New Iberia. "He let me know, 'when you compose a melody, you imagine it's transpiring.' ... Also, the following record I done that. Furthermore, I'll be darned in the event that he wasn't right," Menard said. Menard's collections were twice named for Grammy Awards. "Le Trio Cadien," which he recorded with Eddie LeJeune and Ken Smith, was named for best conventional people collection in 1993. His "Giddy," with melodies including "Les Fous de la Campagne" (The Crazy People of the Country) and "La Lumiere Dans du Cimetiere" (The Light in the Graveyard), was designated for best Zydeco or Cajun collection in 2010. He's in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and the Cajun Music Hall of Fame, and in 1994 he was named a national legacy individual by the National Endowment for the Arts. The memorial service home said Menard's burial service will be Monday evening at Family Life Church in Lafayette, with appearance there Sunday and Monday morning. In this July 2, 2017, photograph, Cajun artist D.L. Menard sings at a tribute to him in the place where he grew up in Erath, La. Menard, whose melody "The Back Door" is among the most famous in Cajun music, is dead at 85 years old. Louisiana Funeral Services and Crematory in Broussard said on its site that Menard kicked the bucket Thursday, July 27 at his home in Scott, Louisiana. (Janet McConnaughey through AP)

[ericgibsonmusic]

Broken Promised Land Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard Release Date: August 12, 2016 Total Songs: 10 Genre: Cajun Price: $9.99 Copyright ℗ 2016 Swallow Records Source: New Releases

http://ericgibsonmusic.info/broken-promised-land-barry-jean-ancelet-sam-broussard

[morebedsidebooks]

Cajun and Creole Folktales

Le chien et le lapin / The Dog and the Rabbit (Norris Mitchell, Scott)

Ça, c’est pour le chien et le lapin. Ils étaient des grands amis dans le temps. Ça fait, ils ont été ensemble. Il y a un homme qui les a engagés, les deux. Ils ont travaillé. Ça fait, l’homme les a payé chacun leur chèque. Et ils ont parti.

Ils ont arrivé ayoù il y avait une rivière pour passer. Le chien lui dit, “Lapin, comment on va passer sur de l’eau-là?”

Lapin dit, “Mets ton chèque en bas ta queue et puis nage jusqu’à l’autre bord.”

Ça fait, le chien le regarde, il dit, “Comment tu dis ça?”

Ça fait, Lapin a fait comme ça. Lapin a mis son chèque et lui, il a mis le sien et ils ont parti à nager. Mais là, il y avait une lame d’eau qui vini. Une lame d’eau qui les a foutus dedans. Ça fait, il a été voir s’il pouvait trouver son chèque mais il était gone. Leau avait pris son chèque.

Lapin était là-bas. Il dit, “Dépêche-toi!”

Ça fait, il a parti derrière Lapin, mais Lapin était sur la butte. Le chien dit, “Tu connais mon affaire? Mo perdu mo chèque!”

“O,” Lapin dit, “gros sacré imbécile! Mo dit toi mettre-le en bas to la-queue. Là, de l’eau sé pas prendre ton chèque. Mais,” il dit, “ça, c’est une affaire quand même!” Lapin, lui, il a gone et Lapin a la queue blanche. Ça fait, Lapin a levé sa queue et puis il a gone.

Il a regardé Lapin, il dit, “Tu connais une affaire? C’est lui qui a volé mon chèque!” Et il a parti après.

Et c’est pour ça il course Lapin jusqu’à asteur.

 This is about the dog and the rabbit. They were good friends in those days. So they went together. There’s a man who hired them both. They worked. So the man paid each one with a check. And they left.

They arrived at a place where there was a river to cross. The dog says, “Lapin, how are we going to cross this water?”

Lapin says, “Put your check under your tail and swim to the other side.”

So the dog looks at him, he says, “What do you mean?”

So Lapin did this. Lapin put his check and then he did the same and they took off swimming. But then a wave came along, a wave that swamped them. So he went to see if he could find his check but it was gone. The water had taken his check.

Lapin was over there. He says, “Hurry up!”

So he took off behind Lapin, but Lapin was on the hill. The dog says, “You know what my problem is? I’ve lost my check!”

“Oh,” Lapin says, “you big damn imbecile! I told you to put it under your tail. Then the water would not have taken your check. Well,” he says, “that’s really something!” Lapin took off and Lapin has a white tail. So Lapin lifted his tail and took off.

He looked at Lapin, he says, “You know something? He’s the one who stole my check!” And he took off after him.

And that’s why he chases Lapin to this day.

I have long had a passion for the French language and several examples of literature in French. Today I’m commencing a project highlighting books or other writing in French from around the globe I’ve decided to call Francophone Writers From 50+ Lands. Besides scouring through what is out there, what is further translated to English (since I blog mostly in English), the first question is —where in the world to begin? The answer to that is also for me more personal. For my first post I knew I would head to the state of Louisiana in the United States, because part of my family hails from Louisiana and there is Cajun in my family tree.  So, today I’m highlighting the book Cajun and Creole Folktales: The French Oral Tradition of South Louisiana. A collection from numerous storytellers be they family or acquaintances of folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet he recorded over two decades, transcribed as well as translated to English in 1994 which reflect some of the oral traditions and deep cultural histories in part of Louisiana. As the book in its introductory chapters begins with a little history and language background among other information, if I might be likewise indulged, I’d like to offer a good dose of context as well.

The United States of America while English in its American variation is predominant nationally, has no official language declared by its federal government. However, many states or territories do have official language(s) or grant other forms of recognition to a variety of tongues. As of the last statistics available in 2018, over 1.2 million identified as speakers of French. Louisiana is one cradle for which you will find such in greater number. Though today the state signs may declare “Bienvenue”, as well as “Welcome” along with other bilingual examples to be found, the presence of what broadly can be called Louisiana French along with related French-based creole language and the population who speak such is in large part a history of adversity.

As will be evident during the course of my project on literature in French across the globe, France as a colonial empire (and others) was a force that has left a marked legacy across the world. During these expansions many would put down roots in other soil, some willingly, others much less so. In North America what would eventually become a sizeable section of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase (an area so named after King Louis XIV when it was claimed in the 17th century) Indigenous populations, colonists, adventurers, refugees, indentured servants, comfort women, free people of colour and slaves all played a role in La Louisiane. Creole would come into fashion as a designation of those born in French colonial territory instead of those who arrived from France and elsewhere, eventually taking on multi-faceted connotations. In language when disparate groups speaking very different native tongues need to communicate, creole languages can arise as their descendants first take up the pidgin giving it native speakers, which over time as well equals further transformation. This was also the case in the Americas and elsewhere colonial empires tread.

To the north in what are the Maritime provinces of Canada and parts of Quebec as well as New England there was also the colony of L’Acadie, made up of settlers from France as well as Scots and naturally the Indigenous peoples. When tensions once again led to full out war between the British colonies and New France, a massive deportation of Acadians over nine years occurred. A devastating event with thousands of estimated deaths, a number were able to avoid expulsion or resettle but, largely scattered to various colonies, Britain or, France a significant population settled in the Lower Louisiana beginning in 1764 (which recently had transferred under Spanish rule). Forming a new community of which some members were or did rise in economic class, Acadians with their own variety of French alongside other groups of various ancestry would ultimately engage in a level of acculturation. From Acadian comes the term Cajun (Cadien). (And in the case where etymology is unclear at least one other controversial term I grew up with though, Cajun itself was a slur based on class.) Though the use of Cajun, particularly since its more recent inception as an identity has expanded and like Creole is not necessarily exclusive and at times frictious.

Greater changes in language, culture and identity would be inevitable when land and peoples are folded under yet another country, one also tested in war and coming into its own essentialism and imperialism. The Deep South as a whole to even people from other parts of the US can sometimes feel very foreign, like a different country all together. But it is still not a monolith or immune to wider influences. In Louisiana, which achieved statehood in 1812, methods of Americanization, assimilation and xenophobia took greater hold over successive generations as more new settlers and English forced itself to prominence, along with great economic and social upheaval. French was slowly stripped of its standing in public life and for a period in the early 20th century children could be physically punished for speaking French in school. (This should be noted as not unique since other languages such as or those of Indigenous peoples, German and Spanish to name a few have also been a target in educational institutions and of various laws. Varieties of English viewed as less than Standard American English can be frowned on and therefore punitive measures incurred too.) The 26th President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt didn’t exactly reflect the truth of America in his words that the nation was no polyglot boarding house and had room for but one identity for its citizens (American) and one language (English), so much as echo its bigotry. Though some would discover French came in handy as they found themselves on other shores for the first time as their nation joined in the World Wars. Even by such time as Standard French came back into Louisiana schools at increasing levels as the US began ever slowly to recognize the diversity within its borders, experience with local French was still considered something worse than never encountering any French.

This history explains a great decline in the population of speakers and why today such varieties are considered threatened or endangered, especially a contact language like Kouri-Vini which has longer suffered stigma and lack of support because of various politics. If one is looking one will find more than English but, the last time I was in Louisiana a mere 1-4% of the population in the parishes I was at were speakers of any French, though other parishes may by most recent surveys boast a figure as high as 18%. Statewide it is a question now of whether the French speaking population numbers will dip below six digits (specific varieties ~25,000). For Kouri-Vini perhaps 10,000, though people are engaged in (re)learning it today. Truly, it is not the same world my newly married mum first encountered stepping off a plane in Louisiana in the 1960s where French was immediately and easily overheard. (Though in other ways change is good and necessary.) Nevertheless, promotion and preservation work has been undertaken over the last half century (first going back over 100 years now) by both larger organizations, groups (Houma people for one) and individuals, some universities even boasting Cajun and Creole programs. Along with a renaissance through creative outlets in literature, music and cuisine; interest from Francophones outside the US has further helped bolster efforts, trade and attracted tourism (accompanied as well by worries of the effects of commodification in these so-called culture industries).

All of which is why the collection Cajun and Creole Folktales is something of a jewel, even when experiencing such material face to face is preferable to the page. Of worth for anyone interested in folklore with its detailed academic annotations and analysis, further appealing in in the examination of the morphosis and connections in the stories but, also more accessible through the personal insight of its collector. From short to lengthy pieces representing farcical jokes, complex magic tales, legends imbued with old superstitions, historical based stories sometimes not shying from horror along with popular tall tales and mélange of animal tales (some of the latter two are familiar from my childhood, though apparently animal tales are told less these days I like to think of them as timeless), all bear witness to still breathing languages and cultures. This book of folktales is a bit of knowledge, fun, comedy, the past and nostalgia wrapped together.

  Cajun and Creole Folktales: The French Oral Tradition of South Louisiana collected by Barry Jean Ancelet is available in print and digital from University Press of Mississippi