What is Zydeco music?
“Zydeco” is said to derive from a French word for snap beans, haricot, and an old Creole saying: Les haricot ne sont pas salés, or, “The snap beans aren’t salted,” used idiomatically to convey hardship.
Today, the term defines a music genre, a dance style and a form of social gathering, all rooted in R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and soul music. While the name’s exact origins are uncertain, Zydeco is certainly indigenous to rural Southwest Louisiana, created by French-speaking, African Americans of Creole heritage.
Zydeco was first pioneered in postwar America, which saw a dramatic shift in the lives of the Louisiana Creole. For over a century, the Creole community lived an independent, prosperous lifestyle in Louisiana, separate from government rule and building invisible communities.
But once the United States made the Louisiana Purchase, it prompted an influx of American settlers to begin migrating from the Southeast, bringing their binary system of race with them. This system is based on the assumption of second-class status for most people of visible African descent, associated with the caste of slavery. By the end of the 19th century, former Confederate states (including Louisiana) had passed constitutions to suppress black voting. This sudden disenfranchisement was met with pushes for education and advancement for and by the Creole community.
It is in this turmoil that Zydeco takes its roots. Melding traditional Creole music and African American traditions with R&B, blues, jazz and gospel, the burgeoning style came to simply be known as French music or “la-la” (la musique Creole). Amédé Ardoin used his high vocal range and accordion skills to become a legend. Walking into a studio in 1929, he sang his traditional Creole tunes and began to lay the foundations of a new sound, and Zydeco was born. The music took further root in dancing, originally performed at house dances in the community and soon, in Catholic Church community centres, rural dance halls and nightclubs.
Zydeco has a spirited, improvisational flair, inspiring a singalong tone that keeps the genre’s community-based roots at its core. Up-tempo rhythms are deeply connected to our humanity and can be found in countless folk and country traditions, something Zydeco takes into a new space with French-Creole lyrics.
As with every new sound, it needed some stars. Clifton Chenier was one such burning star. Surrounded by the music of Creole communities as he grew up, he would become widely known as ‘The king of Zydeco’, using his accordion to not only cement his throne but to place the instrument at the centre of the movement.
In the mid-1950s, Chenier signed with Speciality Records – the label that made household names of Little Richard and Sam Cooke – and became the first Zydeco artist to reach the mainstream, going on to inspire the likes of Mick Jagger. He also designed another definitive instrument: the Zydeco vest frottoir (or, vest rubboard), a percussion instrument made of pressed, corrugated stainless steel, worn over the shoulders and played with sticks or spoons.
Zydeco garnered international attention by the mid-1980s, with Chenier alongside artists including Rockin’ Sidney Simien and Queen Ida each earning Grammy awards, marking major milestones in the genre’s tradition. There was a time in 1985 when you simply couldn’t walk across any part of new Orleans without hearing Rockin’ Sidney’s ‘Toot Toot’. Since that year, the track has been picked up and covered by artists like John Fogerty and the Dead Kennedys’ singer Jello Biafra. Meanwhile, Queen Ida would gain her fame as the first female member of the Zydeco royalty.
Perhaps what sets Zydeco apart is that while it certainly has folk traditions, the genre is not too concerned with sticking to the rules. It is continuously trying to adapt, innovate and move forward.
As hundreds of artists and groups continue to breathe new life into Zydeco, the genre remains synonymous with Louisiana and continues to feed into the lifeblood of the area.
