BATON
ROUGE ADVOCATE
10/3/03
By: John Wirt
Though Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are relatively young,
the group has been among Cajun music’s best bands for years.
The band’s reputation can only grow with Bon Rêve.
Following some musical experiments, including the cool Cajun-rock
‘n’ roll hybrid act Lil’ Band O’ Gold,
Riley and the boys return to traditional Cajun two-steps and waltzes,
but with a difference. This isn’t museum music, but the
sound of inspired, inventive roots-connected contemporary singers
and players carrying Cajun repertoire to the 21st Century.
Bon Rêve’s generous 17 tracks includes the fiddle-filled
title track (“Sweet Dream” in English), which makes
the natural connection between Cajun and country music. Two songs
written and originally recorded by the innovative Belton Richard,
“Jamais une autre chance” (“Never Another Chance”),
and “Paradis des musicians” (“Musicians’
Paradise”), masterfully blend Cajun music with swamp pop
and honky tonk respectively. The band gives Creole musician Amedée
Ardoin’s “Prison Blues”, recorded in 1934, a
great groove and bluesy sound, thanks in part to multi-instrumentalist
David Greely’s sax.
Riley and the Mamou Playboys’ flair for hitting a groove,
no matter what the genre, is among their strong points. They seem
to do it by instinct. That groove plus imaginative arrangements,
lots of chops and joie de vivre make this group one of the brighter
lights on the Cajun music horizon.
OFFBEAT MAGAZINE
Cajun Music Played Right
By: Dan Willging
Sixteen years and a nine album discography is enough to test any
band's mettle but for Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, such
a fortuitous run can only mean the making of incomparable dynasty
within Cajun music. With each and every subsequent release, the
Playboys have continuously climbed to higher ground while never
glancing back at the last launching site. By now you'd think complacency
and interruption of service would be part of the equation, but
here, a strong case could be made that this is their meatiest
affair yet.
While it appears that Riley and his band's best lineup to date
have reached full circle by returning to traditionalism, it's
a far different playing brand from whence they began their career.
The cover photo shot featuring octogenarian fiddler Milton Vanicor
with the Mamou Playboys as phantom images in the background practically
shouts volumes in terms of deeply rooted symbolism and passing
the muse onwards. Of course, there will always be a reverence
for those stalwarts who lit the inspirational flame but amazingly
this isn't solely a revisit to traditionalism. Rather it's a forward
thinking acoustic-centric affair that subtly encompasses every
modicum of the Cajun-Creole music and culture itself. Yet unlike
the last two progressive outings, Bayou Ruler and Happytown, every
influence here comes from within.
And all of this is beyond soul satisfying, rather soul nurturing
with the richest of ingredients. Guitarist Sam Broussard wrote
the incredibly beautiful title song that pays homage to Creole
fiddler Canray Fontenot. It unfolds as an unassumingly pristine
fiddle duet before sprouting into a rockin' little dandy involving
the whole band. Similarly engaging is "Vini, Jile,"
a nimble-fingered, breathtaking chamber folk composition that
interestingly lists three distinct co-authors: Dennis McGee (intro/outro),
19th-century slave/poet Pierre (lyrics) and Broussard (vocal melody).
"Eyes at the Bottom of the Well" is an infectious Greely
fiddle tune that morphs into a jazzy styled counterpoint and then
bursts into an accordion-fueled finale.
If you haven't surmised already, there are more twists and turns
here than a Telluride ski slope. As the great Lawrence Walker
would often transform a two-step into a waltz, on "Evangeline
Waltz Two-Step," this time Greely churns a Walker waltz into
a throttling two-step. Another facet that'll likely guarantee
surprises is how the diversely arranged tunes are sequenced so
no two are ever similar while still flowing cohesively together.
A glorious rendition of Aldus Roger steel guitarist Phillip Alleman's
"Last Waltz" is followed by Creole fiddler Carlton Frank's
"Oh, Mom," a song whose hidden treasure is the little
pause that momentarily infuses an elevating sensation.
Best of all, Bon Rêve serves as a strong reminder that when
Cajun music is played right, it's the most formidable sonic art
on this planet. Dancehall rave-ups "OST Special" and
"The Unlucky Waltz" are teeth clenching, fist waving
affairs while a version of Belton Richard's "Never Another
Chance," sung by Riley's passionate tenor, is off-the-charts
soulful. A second Richard tune, "Musician's Paradise,"
grooves like crazy with a western swing section. Additionally,
all the great Mamou Playboy signature attributes, the three-part
harmonies, impeccable timekeeping and the insatiable throbbing
picking rhythms, are still solidly intact. A magically crafted
masterpiece, Bon Rêve is a desert island disc for eternity.
TIMES OF ACADIANA
9/24/03
By: Arsenio Orteza
What keeps this, Riley’s most traditional-sounding album
in six years, from sounding all that traditional is that even
at its rootsiest it resonates (if ever so faintly at times) with
the less traditional and/or more exploratory aspects of Bayou
Ruler and Happytown. This time, however, the experimentation emerges
less in the sound than in an overall relaxation of strictures:
David Greely and Sam Broussard shine in their allotted songwriting
and lead-singing roles, and Brazos Huval and Kevin Dugas keep
even the most venerable of the many trad cover tunes stepping
lively. As for “La chanson de Savoy,” if it isn’t
the most gorgeous 1:48 of a cappella singing I’ve gotten
free in the mail this year, I’m the King’s Singers.
Rating: Four-and-a-half sweet dreams out of five.
|
