>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, DC.
>> My name is Betsy Peterson.
I'm the director of the
American Folk Life Center here
at the Library of Congress.
And on behalf of the staff
and indeed everyone here
at the library I want to
welcome you all today.
Glad you've come in out of the
heat and to hear some great music.
For the American Folk Life Center,
this homegrown concert series,
of which this is the latest
in our season this year,
but the homegrown concert series
allows us a couple of opportunities.
One, to work with folklorists,
state folk arts programs all
around the country to identify
the best performing artists
to bring here to share their
musical traditions with you.
It also is an opportunity for us to
record these events, which we do.
And we will be recording
this event today
and it will eventually be
webcast on our website.
So keep an eye out for that.
And then in the meantime, let
me say my usual admonishment
to turn off your cell
phone at this point.
Often these concerts
are collaborations
with other institutions
here in town.
And today is no different.
The concert today here
is cosponsored
with the Millennium
Stage at Kennedy Center.
And the artists that
you're going to hear today
at noon will also be
performing later today
at 6:00 PM at Millennium Stage.
So please, if you want to hear
some great music all over again,
please go over there this evening.
Today's concert we're featuring
some Zydeco and Creole music.
And we're featuring a
group called Creole United
from the Gulf Coast of
Louisiana and Texas.
And they are three generations
of traditional Creole musicians,
in fact including a few folks
who are part of the same family.
But Creole music is a musical
culture that includes a mix
of musical styles originating among
French-speaking African Americans
along the Gulf Coast, along the
lower Mississippi, combining a range
of musical influences,
Cajun, West African,
a little bit of Spanish
music all mixed together.
This group is also
something of a mixture itself.
And by that I mean many of them
are leaders of their own band.
This is sort of an
experiment if you will,
bringing together various musicians
who are extremely accomplished
in their own right
to perform together.
And it's the brainchild of two of
the younger members of the group,
Sean Ardoin and Andre
Thierry as a way
to encourage musical exchange
among multiple generations
of Creole musicians, to bring
together older traditions and mix
with more emerging styles
and to create new Creole
standards for the next generation.
In 2013, Creole United
completed a CD "Non Jamais Fait,"
which means never been done.
Because a collaboration
like this is pretty rare
and it's never been done.
So please get ready to
welcome Creole United,
which includes Ed Poulard,
Lawrance Ardoin, Rusty Matoirer,
Sean Ardoin and Andre Thierry.
So please welcome Creole United.
[ Applause ]
>> What's going on, y'all?
[ Applause ]
>> Greetings from Lake
Charles Louisiana.
Greetings from Beaumont, Texas.
Greetings from Richmond, California.
Greetings from Labeau, Louisiana.
Thank you so much.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are Creole United.
We're so happy to be here today.
I'm the guy with the motor mouth
so they make me do all the talking.
I don't have a problem with it.
Kind of enjoy it, you
know what I'm saying.
So as she said, she was great.
So thank you for that introduction.
That was pretty awesome.
We are Creole United.
We're generational and
we're different styles.
Multigenerational, multistyle,
and me and Andre decided
to get this thing together
because we wanted to get a group
of individuals that would
be -- it's not a band.
It's a movement.
Let me just say that.
It's a movement.
So next time you see Creole
United, the only two people
who are guaranteed to be
there are Andre and I.
Because everybody here has a career.
So we were like, "We're
going to get the people
who are doing Creole music."
And we're going to get them
together and say, "Look,
let's honor where we come
from and let's also try
to create new Creole
standards in a new way."
So we honor the past
with the French.
We honor the past with the styles.
And then we also bring the past
to the future by putting our spin
on it and just mixing it all.
Because if you notice, we
have a scrub board and back
in the day there was no scrub
board when you had a fiddle.
And we have a fiddle, and
today you don't have a fiddle
when you have a scrub board.
So we're this big anomaly.
And then he's going
to play the triangle
when he's not on the accordion.
And that's in nobody's
music anymore,
unless you do like a
little three-piece.
So my dad is Lawrence Ardoin.
He's going to kick it off for us.
[ Applause ]
How you feeling, Lawrence?
>> I feel pretty good.
>> Well let's do it.
>> Let's see if we can
them old fingers going.
>> That's going to change.
[ Music ]
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you, thank you so much.
[ Applause ]
All right, y'all.
So check it out.
The instrumentation back in the day
before amplification was usually
accordion, violin and like he was
saying, the T fad, the triangle.
And on the north -- Opelousa,
which is right north of I-10,
but mostly south of I-10
they use the scrub board.
It didn't look like this.
It was just a regular old washboard.
And so they had that going.
And then sometime in the late '80's,
early '90's with the loss of most
of our black fiddle players,
the scrub board became
the other rhythm thing.
I know how it happened, but
you know, it's irrelevant.
It happened.
It happened.
It really did.
And so I used to think --
if you notice the oh-na-na-na-na-na
-- right?
Did y'all notice that?
So I used to think it was
because of the culture
and we have the Indian
influence back.
You know up there you had the
Indian influence of the High Well,
you have the African
caller response,
you have all this stuff going on.
But then as I started
playing I realized
that all the accordions were
in C and D. So it's way up here
and that's why they would holler.
You'll get it later.
It will hit you on the way home.
It will hit you on the way home.
>> That's a little slow one.
>> Right, that's a little slow one.
So if you've been exposed
to Louisiana music at all,
you'll notice that these songs sound
like Cajun music to
the untrained ear.
Well that's because
the founder of Creole
and Cajun music is Amede Ardoin.
We are direct lineage
to Amede Ardoin.
And they had given the credit
to Iry LeJeune, Iry LeJeune.
Yeah, they had given the credit
to Iry LeJeuene and sometime
in like the early '80's, around '81,
'82 the state recognized officially
Amede Ardoin as the father
of Cajun and Creole music.
So the differences would be
that we play it from our rhythm
and blues, blues perspective.
And the Cajun music comes from
the stringed instrument/country
influence, folky influence.
So the songs are the same, but the
feel comes from where we come from.
So that's why it will be
kind of the same, but not.
So, Dad.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm sorry, Lawrence.
>> Black.
>> Lawrence Black Ardoin,
ladies and gentlemen.
[ Applause ]
So, Dad, can you explain
to the people how you came
to play the accordion?
>> Well, this goes like this.
>> Like this.
>> What happened was in 1974, prior
to that we were the Ardoin Brothers,
which we was four brothers playing.
And we had Kendry Fronlo
with us in the band.
And in September, I would say
the 29th possibly, my brother got
in a car accident and he got killed.
>> What did your brother play?
>> He played the accordion.
He was the accordion
player of the band.
And they were leaving that Tuesday.
They was going on tour to Canada.
So when that happened,
Daddy had retired,
Boisette, which is our father.
>> Did he play?
>> He played the accordion also.
That's what got us going through
him, and Amede and the rest of them.
So what happened then was he
had to get back in the band
with us to keep it going.
And we played in Lake Charles
one night and my oldest brother,
he could play the accordion
some, but he didn't want to play.
So he called another guy in the
audience to come up and play
because he said Daddy
had been retired
and it was time to take his place.
I got angry because he
could have done that instead
of calling someone else from
just in the audience right now.
We call you, "So and so
come over here and play.
I'm tired.
I can't play no more."
>> And what was the
name of the band?
>> The Ardoin Brothers.
>> So why would you
have a T-bow playing
in the Ardoin Brothers
as the headliner?
>> So that really teed
me off and I said,
"I'm going to learn
how to play this."
We came here in 1975
for the Bicentennial.
I believe it was '76.
We played near the monument.
And when I went back home I
said, "I'm learning this week."
So me and my brother went to
the beach and we played around
and did some boat and ski and stuff.
So I took Daddy's accordion
and I start practicing
and we played a dance two
weeks later that same place
and I played my first song.
[ Applause ]
And the first song went --
[ Playing accordion ]
I played that first song.
Kendry looked at me.
He said, "You did that?"
I said, "Yeah, and
Imma do some more."
And I kept on playing some.
So I bought me a new accordion and
we got to playing and then I ended
up taking over the
Ardoin Brothers band.
Then it became Lawrence
Ardoin and La Nia.
That's when Chris got
involved in it.
>> French Zydeco band
first, remember?
>> Yeah, sure was.
>> Then Chris.
>> Y'all got to excuse me.
I'm getting kind of old.
>> That's what I'm here for.
So now we're going to play a song
that my grandfather, his dad,
Alfons Boisette Ardoin
was kind of famous for.
He played this song
like nobody else.
It's called "Pense a Moi."
That's Think of Me.
[ Music ]
Thank you, thank you.
[ Applause ]
Alrighty, now ladies and
gentlemen, coming to the stage.
All right.
So now we're going to
make a little switch.
One thing you'll notice, that
everybody plays accordion,
except Chuck, but I'm sure
Chuck -- except Chuck.
>> Except Chuck.
>> Y'all give it up.
Chuck Bush, y'all.
Chuck is helping us out.
[ Applause ]
And if you're familiar
with Zydeco music at all,
this guy name Beau Jocques.
Well Beau Jocques' signature
sound I would venture
out to say was a direct
result of his bass player.
[ Applause ]
>> Chuckie, Chuckie.
>> Ah, Chuckie.
You be coming lucky, Chucky.
>> All right, so hey,
let's get a beat.
>> He just played a two-step, so
I'm going to start off with a waltz.
>> He just told me
what we're about to do.
>> Yes. And I'm going to tell you,
since Lawrence just did
a two-step we're going
to start off with a waltz.
[ Music ]
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you, thank you.
How's everybody feeling out there?
Y'all enjoying the music?
Right now we're going to
ask Ed some questions.
Me being from California, I grew
up under his brother Danny Poulard.
And I want to ask him -- I
heard the story from Danny,
but I want to get it from his
mouth how they started playing.
So how did you guys get
into playing, you and Danny?
>> Well when we were coming
up, Danny moved to California
when I like, I want to
say, I was a teenager.
I won't be specific,
but I was a teenager.
>> But we didn't have electricity.
>> Yes. And we got the Sunday paper
on Wednesday and stuff like that.
You know, the routine old adages.
And my dad was an accordion player.
He played for a long time.
He started playing when he
was I think 12 years old
and started playing
dances I guess at the age
of 14 or something like that.
>> And what was his name?
>> His name was John Poulard.
And his dad, my grandfather,
was also a fiddle player,
which would explain why I kind
of got injected with both genes,
the fiddle and the
accordion I guess.
But my dad stopped playing for 20
years because he had a big family.
He started off sharecropping,
had 11 children
and decided it was time
to seek a better life.
And he moved to Texas during the
oil boom back in 1951 I think.
And I was -- no, that was
1952, because I was born
and 10 months later
they moved to Texas.
And it was a long period of time.
I was -- I can't remember how
old, about 10 years old maybe.
My mama and dad used
to go to town --
they called it town --
go shopping on Saturday.
And they would go buy shoes
and you know, just stuff.
They'd go to the store.
One Saturday afternoon my dad
came back with a little box
and he opened it up and he pulled
out this little box similar to this,
but it was a Horner 114 that he
had on layaway for X amount of time
that he finally got
a chance to get out.
So he took it out, sat there on
the couch and started playing it.
And I had always heard he played
accordion, but I had never seen it.
I witnessed it myself.
So that was my I guess first
main influence on learning this.
Danny knew it all along
because Danny was there
when my dad was playing dances
until an incident happened
where he got hurt.
And when we moved to Texas, over
the years Danny decide he wanted
to change the scenery
and move to California.
I was then 14 years old
and my accordion playing
hadn't really started.
I started off playing drums.
Yes. I used to play
drums with my uncles
who were accordion players also.
So we had a pretty good dose of
accordions come from both sides
of the family, mother and father.
And I was a little kid playing drums
in clubs and stuff over in Texas
when my uncles moved there.
I was too young to be in there,
so they had to get permission
from my mom and daddy for me to
come with them and go with them
and play those nightclubs and stuff.
I had to stay behind the drums.
Texas liquor laws didn't
allow any kind of children.
They had to be accompanied by
an adult, always supervised.
So I was in jail behind the drums.
I couldn't go nowhere.
If I had to go to the bathroom,
somebody had to come with me.
>> Awesome.
>> But I grew up doing that,
learning the music from
a number of people.
>> So, Ed, I learned
the music from you
because you were in my dad's band.
So I learned from all of y'all.
Because even just being in an
atmosphere of music you can learn.
>> You absorb it.
>> You absorb it.
So this song is called
Watch You Dance.
And so what Creole
United likes to do is we
like to include the old and the new.
So it will be partially in
French, partially in English.
The last song that we did,
what does it say, Danny?
I wrote the words, but the
French translation I'm slow on.
>> He woke up singing.
>> Yeah. He woke up this
morning, he was singing.
And he made love to this
woman all day and she stayed
on his mind all day
and so forth and so on.
>> Right. That's kind of what I
wrote, but y'all get the picture.
In other words, he goes to
sleep with her on his mind,
wakes up with her on his mind,
goes back to sleep again
with her on his mind.
I didn't know the make love
part, but that's nice to know.
>> Did he really say that?
>> I didn't hear that, but okay.
>> I didn't hear that
part, but it's all good.
>> Because that's what
music is supposed to do.
It's supposed to take you to
another place and make you,
you know what I'm saying,
visualize whatever it is you see.
So this is called Watch You Dance.
Here we go.
>> Man, I would have paid
more attention to the lyrics.
I didn't realize that was in there.
[ Music ]
Thank you very much.
All right.
[ Applause ]
Thanks to the dancers.
Yes, yes, yes.
And now, as you heard earlier,
Creole United is multigenerational.
So on this stage we have
actually like four generations
of Creole musicians,
starting with my dad and Ed.
The two guys right there.
Yes fiddle, please fiddle.
Yes fiddle.
And right here, this
guy is Rusty Matoirer.
>> The youngest man in the band.
>> The youngest man in the band.
So like generationally
speaking, like my dad --
Ed is the end of my
dad's generation.
Andre is the end of my
generation and Rusty is right
in the middle of his generation.
And then on the next Creole United
CD we have the sixth generation
coming up in Caleb Laday.
So we're going to include
all generations.
Eventually we're going to have --
as long as those guys keep waking
up in the morning -- we'll have
at least six generations of this.
>> I like sleeping late myself.
>> Let's go, Rusty.
[ Music ]
>> Hey, Irene, I was wanting
my green cord out of my bag.
[ Applause ]
We're going to check and see
whose cord is the problem.
Yes, yes, yes.
>> It's not in there?
>> Okay, cool, we got one.
[ Plays accordion ]
>> We are experiencing
technical difficulties.
>> All right, so, Rusty.
>> Hey, Sean.
>> Tell me something, man.
And you don't even have to
hurt your neck looking at me.
They understand the dynamic.
Because my neck just hurts
when I have to keep turning it.
>> I'm going to look right there.
>> Find somebody and look at them.
Point them out, point them out.
>> The man in the red shirt.
>> Yeah, we talking to you, sir.
Sir, we are talking to you.
>> All right.
>> Okay, you ready?
Move your mouth while I talk, sir.
So, Andre.
No, so, Rusty.
Why did you start playing accordion?
Who were some of your
biggest influences?
>> I would have to say my two
biggest influences were both
my grandfathers.
Lewis Matoirer and Kinese Papionas,
my grandfathers on both sides.
My dad's dad played blues
and jazz and a little bit
of Zydeco at the end of his life.
He played drums and bass.
And my mom's dad played
accordion and fiddle.
So I came up my whole life
listening to all this music.
And once both of them passed, I felt
like somebody should keep it going.
So that's what I did.
I picked it up and tried
to learn a few songs.
I feel them with me
when I'm playing.
So I keep doing it for them and
my family and for the culture.
I've always had a fascination
with the Creole culture
because it's so unique.
And I just felt like somebody in
my generation should keep it going.
And that's what I try to do.
>> Yeah so give it up, give it up.
[ Applause ]
So when Andre and I were
talking about forming this group,
we were like, "We got
the older generation.
We got us.
Now who can we get from
the next generation?"
And it was a no-brainer because
he had already talked to us
about what we do every
time he got an opportunity.
>> So, Sean.
How are you doing this, man?
How did you get to
this point right here?
Do you pull or you push?
Do you listen all the time, or what?
How do it?
What are you doing when you do that?
Andre, Andre.
So if I'm playing do I push or pull?
Do I push and pull and push
and pull and push and pull?
What do I do, Andre?
>> That sounds about right.
>> So we were like,
"We've got to get this dude
because he's got the same
passion for this that we have."
And it really paid off because
his song is one of the hotter ones
on our CD just because of the energy
and the youthful exuberance
that he brings.
That's one of them college words.
Let's go, Rus.
[ Music ]
>> Thank you.
>> All right.
[ Applause ]
All right, y'all.
Okay, I'm directing because
we switched some stuff up.
So what we're going to do
right now is we're going
to go old-school right quick.
Like super old-school.
Old-school south of I-10.
When I come up, I'll do
old-school north of I-10.
And if you don't know what
I-10 is, I-10 is interstate 10
that runs directly
through our lives.
And it's the barrier with which
we determine everything we do.
When the hurricane
hit, can't go I-10.
Got to go 165, got to go
everything going north and south.
Anyway, Andre Thierry.
[ Music ]
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[ Applause ]
So playing accordion, Andre.
So we're going to need
to hear this one.
Here we go.
Play some more, Andre, so
I can make sure I got you.
Just give them a little
bit more if you will.
[ Playing accordion ]
Because I've got to
sing for this one
and I don't want you guys
to think I can't sing.
Really I can sing a little bit.
Just a little bit.
All right, so Andre, like
I asked everybody else.
How you come about
getting on this team?
Because I want to let you
know he's playing this one,
but he can also play those as
proficiently as he plays that one.
He can also play the three-row as
proficiently as he plays that one.
He also plays bass.
He also plays guitar.
He is awesome.
He is Andre.
[ Applause ]
So how'd you start playing, big guy?
>> Well I grew up in
Richmond, California.
>> California in the house?
California in the house?
>> So I actually hated this
music when I was young.
My grandmom and grandfather,
they moved out from Basil
in the early-60's and
started doing church dances
at St. Marks in Richmond,
California.
And we were forced to go as kids.
And I just hated it.
I used to go to sleep all the
time, go in the back, pass out.
But one day I went up to
the front of the stage
and I saw a guy playing,
singing on the accordion.
And I fell in love with
it because I wanted
to make the flaps do
what he was doing.
So it wasn't really about the music,
but I just wanted to
know how to do it.
So my dad actually started teaching
me how to play the piano accordion.
But I didn't like I, but
fell in love with that one.
Played it for a while, got bored,
went to triple-note, played that,
got bored, winded back up
on the piano accordion.
That's pretty much
how I got into it.
>> All right, big guy.
So let's get into this song.
It's a song off the
Creole United CD.
It's called Mmm, Mmm, Mmm.
No, I'm not going to
say what my daddy said,
but that's what it means.
I ain't going to even say that.
But I'll just say that you
could take it home with you.
See us afterwards.
You can take it home with you
and dissect all this music
however you choose to.
Listen to it with whomever you
choose to listen to it and say,
"What did you think they
meant by Mmm, Mmm, Mmm?"
>> Well you've seen the
commercials on television,
the Nabisco commercials,
when Andy Griffith used
to give those commercials.
He used to say, "Mmm,
Mmm, good cracker."
>> Campbell's soup, mmm, mmm, good.
[ Music ]
>> Thank you, thank you.
[ Applause ]
Wooh. Say so.
Now coming to the stage,
we have Mr. Sean Ardoin.
Give it up.
>> Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So see, now you can
think, mmm, mmm, mmm.
You can think whatever
you want to think.
It's just a man admiring a
thing that God has created,
the thing called woman, with
which we cannot do without.
>> Remember what I said.
>> You know, it's 2015,
you understand.
All right.
So he did the old-school
south of I-10.
I do the old-school.
It's a participatory
thing here, guys.
So he did the south of I-10.
I do the?
>> North.
>> That's what I'm
talking about, class.
You all get stickers.
[ Music ]
>> Oh yeah, I was supposed to play
this one on a whole other accordion.
[ Music ]
>> Yeah. All right, so as we
have come to the end of our time.
>> Aww.
>> I know.
>> Aww.
>> I know.
I was trying to remember the thing,
"All our family M-i-c-k-e-y
M-o-u-s-e.
Why? Because we like you."
[ Plays accordion ]
All right, so y'all just remember
that you can take us home with you
if you see us over
here in the corner.
I think that's the politically
correct thing to say.
We love y'all.
We are Creole United.
We thank y'all for coming
in DC to come and find
out about Louisiana culture
and listen to Louisiana music
and love Louisiana music like
y'all have given us the love today.
We definitely felt
it, we appreciate it.
Thank y'all.
And can you turn this up just
a little bit, inner monitor?
[ Music ]
>> Slow down, y'all.
Slow down.
Thank y'all so much.
Have a great evening.
Creole United, y'all.
[ Music ]
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you, Sean and
Lawrence, Rusty, Chuck, Andre.
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov