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UPDATE: In 2003, Moïse and Alida Viator with Eh, La-Bas! released
a CD, Mermaids of the Canary Islands, and in 2006, their final
CD, Creole Fusion. Hurricane Katrina separated musicians in the
band, and everyone has now moved on, but, for some truly different
Louisiana French music, it's worth tracking down these CDs. |
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Moïse and Alida Viator are shown performing with the band Eh La Bas at Festival International de Louisiane on April 29, 2001, in Lafayette. |
During spring and summer 2001, Moïse and Alida Viator began performing with the Eh, La Bas!, a band that plays the New Orleans Creole music that their father, Étienne Viator, also loves. A law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, Étienne Viator once had to make a decision whether to attend law school or become a mail carrier in Mamou. Although he enjoys teaching law, he also continues to pursue his interest in music and in the Creole language, pursuits that his children have also embraced. They find joy and fulfillment through their music performed on their own terms. As reported by Raymond Gervais while covering the appearance of Eh La Bas at Festival international de jazz de Montréal in July 2001, Alida Viator insists on remaining faithful to her own standards: "'Si vous êtes musicien professionnel et que vous devez gagner votre vie, vous devez faire ce que votre public aime; moi, j'aime la musique que nous faisons actuellement et je désire continuer à en faire. Je ne veux pas tomber dans le panneau d'être obligée de plaire aux autres sans avoir du plaisir à chanter et à jouer,' affirme la jeune violoniste." Click here to go to the first page on Moïse and Alida Viator. |
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All photographs and text by David Simpson. |