What's ZYDECO?
Zydeco music is music by the Creole (black) population of Louisiana.
Like cajun music accordeons are used, but the off beat, the
accent
on the 2nd and 4th count, and syncopic rythms are more
important
Old zydeco music sounds a bit like Rock&Roll and Rhytm&Blues, the newer
ones have elements from Funk and Reggae.
The rubboard (for washing
clothes) is a
rhytm instrument, much used in older zydeco music
The
godfather of
zydeco is Clifton Chenier; he died in '87
The word
"zydeco" is derived from "haricots" (=
kind of beans)
There is an traditional song responsible for this name:
"les haricots sont pas salees" (= the beans aren't salted).
Caused by the local Creole dialect the name "les haricots"
became "zarico",
and later "zydeco", and that word became synonyme for
the kind of music.
this page is updated
04-11-16
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