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Archive Files of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musicians |
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Jason Frey & Travis Matte
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Click here for high res photos posted on Flickr. 2006 Update of Jason Frey and Lagniappe |
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In these photos taken at the
Liberty Theater Jan. 28, 2006, Jason Frey is shown at left
performing with other musicians who have constituted Lagniappe
since Travis Matte organized his own highly popular band, Zydeco
Kingpins. With fiddler Ken Smith, who also plays with Paul
Daigle, and with Mark Latiolais, another Cajun Gold regular,
on guitar and vocals, plus drummer and vocalist Ray Thibodeaux
(who was with the late Kenneth Thibodeaux's band), Lagniappe in
2006 remains one of the most talented traditional Cajun band
anywhere.
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At the start of the 21st century, Jason Frey and Travis Matte, two young Cajun musicians, decided to collaborate on a CD that takes listeners back to a style of front porch playing which relies on the natural beauty of Cajun music. There is no straining to inject emotion beyond the deep feelings already present in the music, no attempt to make the musician stand out apart from the music.
Their 2000 album, à la vieille manière, released by La Louisianne Records, captures that old way of playing before the era of pop music when today's musicians sometimes seem to think they are more important than the music.
The work of Frey, Matte, and Lagniappe has not gone unrecognized. The CD received the Cajun French Music Association's Le Cajun Award as Best First Recording of the Year for 2000 and was also nominated for the Best Album/CD of the Year Award. The annual awards ceremony was held Aug. 17, 2001.
For the fourth time, Matte, who has previously received Fiddler of the Year awards in 1994, 1997, and 1998, won the award for 2000. He was also nominated for the Male Vocalist of the Year Award. Frey, who previously played fiddle with Kenneth Thibodeaux and Cajun Dance on an award-winning CD, received a nomination as Accordionist of the Year. "Avant c'est trop tard" ("Before It's Too Late"), a song written by Matte and Frey and performed on the CD, was nominated for the "Song of the Year Award."
Other original songs on the CD by Matte and Frey include "Va attrape mon violon" and "La valse de le sud de Crowley." They also wrote instrumentals: Frey's "Two Step de Rougeau" and Matte's "Pointe Noir."
Among the Cajun standards on the CD are "Les flammes d'enfer," "La Valse à Ardoin," "Two Step de Eunice," Lawrence Walker's "La Valse de Reno," "Two Step de Perrodin," "Les Blues de Part Arthur," and "Ton coeur est barré."
The CD also offers Aldus Roger's "La Valse à Alida" and Roger's "OST Special" (the name of a Rayne nightclub: OST=Old Spanish Trail=U.S. Highway 90); and Bee Cormier's "Mom est pas mort."
Other musicians on the CD include veteran fiddler Tony Thibodeaux; Glen Richard on bass; Randy Melancon on drums; and Mark Latiolais on rhythm guitar.
For booking information, contact Travis Matte, 337-267-7394 or Jason Frey, 337-457-1843.
The pictures on this page were taken during performances at the Liberty Theater in June 2001 and at Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette in September 2001. In the pictures above, Jason Frey is shown on accordion and Travis Matte on fiddle during the Liberty peformance. The other pictures of them were taken in Lafayette. Below at left, Matte and Tony Thibodeaux play twin fiddles on a hauntingly beautiful rendition of "'Tits yeux noirs." The picture immediately below was taken at Festivals Acadiens. In the picture at the bottom, Kyle Hebert is shown on bass and Randy Melancon on drums.
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