Search - Steve Riley & Mamou Playboys :: Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys: Dominos

A sound of their own that balances roots conformity with con

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 11/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - CD (58:36) plus DVD -- Ayeeee! "Dominos" is the tenth release from Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. Nine of them are on the reputable Rounder Records label. Steve Riley is a very talented Cajun accordionist and fiddler. David Greely, also a fiddler, is a founding member of the band too. The other members are Kevin Dugas (drums, triangle), Brazos Huval (bass) and Sam Broussard (guitars). Steve Riley grew up in the small Louisiana town of Mamou where French is spoken on the street. He plays a single-row diatonic instrument made by his cousin, accordionist Marc Savoy. He also plays a triple-row accordion. David Greely grew up near Baton Rouge, served as an apprentice to Dewey Balfa, and has studied and toured area rich in Acadian history from where his mother's family, the Thériots, come from. I wish he would've included some of his fine saxophone playing on "Dominos."



With many releases under their belts, this exceptional band from Louisiana has been very prolific and popular over the years. They present some excellent dancehall music that is comprised mainly of two-steps and waltzes. The 24-page CD booklet includes all the French lyrics (and English translations). The songs have straightforward messages which are easy to comprehend like "I'm working really hard, I'm working as a day laborer. When I collect my week's pay, All I think of is spending it" from "La vie d'un vieux garcon" (The Bachelor's Life). That song comes from the canon D.L. Menard, a preservationist of a pure Cajun sound. If you think the lyrics are all about partying, there's also a sad element imparted in minor key on "Marie mouri" (Marie Has Died), a haunting piece with lyrics from a poem by a Louisiana slave named Pierre. About a half of the album is their own high-stepping original material. The remainder are covers from D.L. Menard, Denis McGee, Canray Fontenot, Nolan Dugas, and Slim Doucet.



True to a more traditional style such as that of the Balfa Brothers, this band keeps their sound dominated by fiddle and accordion. While some other Cajun bands are being influenced by rock, R&B and blues, the guys on this album are passionate about Cajun tradition. At the same time, they've created a sound of their own for people who want to boogie from the bayous into the 21st Century. Akin to Belton Richard and the Musical Aces, there are a few country and rock ingredients in the Mamou Playboys' gumbo.



After cutting a bean on a song like "Coulee Rodair" and thinking you have this group pegged, they serve up an a cappella rendition of "Les clefs de la prison" (The Keys to the Prison), a song which Alan Lomax recorded Elita Huffpauir singing in 1934. Country influences are most apparent in a beautiful waltz written by drummer Kevin Dugas' father, Nolan Dugas. "Tu peux cogner" (Keep A-Knockin') is a Cajun version of a song from Texan western swinger Milton Brown. David Greely's instrumental "Ramificajuns" even has a bluegrass flavor that reminds me of a upbeat fiddle tune like "Billy in the Lowground." The album closes with Sam Broussard's "Riviere de temps" (River of Time) which dispels any myths about the simplicity of Cajun music. I like his observation that "A hard head has its value, It holds the family together..." Many of the band's extended family and friends are shown in the album's cover photograph. After the song ends, we hear Steve Riley and his grandfather from a 1975 recording.



Flip the disc over and you are also treated to a DVD that has interviews with band members, as well as performances of four selections. That's right, folks. This is one of those new high-tech (and rather costly to produce) 2-sided discs with both CD and DVD.



Together since 1988, their gumbo is upbeat and spirited dance music. With a very similar and successful band formula found on their Grammy-nominated 2003 "Bon Reve" release (Rounder 11661-6112-2), "Dominos" captures the heart, soul and groove of Cajun music. Proponents and among the leaders of the Cajun revival, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are both preservationists and innovators who balance roots conformity with contemporary creativity. Sounds to me like their acquiescence to tradition, mixed with a little heterodoxy, has simply allowed these ambassadors to create their own strong signature sound. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)

"

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys scale the heights again!

Maureen Sheridan | Rockaway, NJ USA | 10/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Every time I think Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have reached a peak, they surprise me by finding and scaling a new one, extending and enriching the Cajun musical tradition and breathing new life into it with each new effort. Dominos is such an effort, a magnificent blending of old tunes re-envisioned and new one created by the boys, mournful tunes (Pays des Éstrangers and Marie Mouri) and celebrations of love and life, back-porch simplicity (Ardoin Medley's opening), dance-hall outrageousness and the simple beauty of perfect twin fiddles in Napoleon B. Frugé and their ever-improving a capella harmony heard in Clefs de la Prison. Some exquisite guitar work on Couleé Rodair and Ramificajuns is also not to be overlooked.



Highlights of the material include the title track, Dominos, the magnificent Ardoin Medley (also performed on the DVD side), Napoleon B. Frugé (okay, I'll confess, it's one of my favorites), Ramificajuns (you've just got to love that title) and Marie Mouri. The lyric was taken from a poem written by a late Creole slave by the name of Pierre; it's now transformed by the simple music and wonderful voice of David Greeley to a beautiful lament for lost love (also included on the DVD side). Don't miss the Texas Swing in Tu Peux Cogner, either.



The whole effort, at least for me, is summed up in the final track, Rivière de Temps (River of Time). I'm not going to spoil it for you by saying more about it. Get this release and enjoy it for yourself. There's a little treat at the end, too.



The DVD side's bonus material is a video mélange of staged performances, interviews with the band's core, another with Dr. Barry Ancelet (a long-time supporter of the band and Professor of Folklore and Francophone Studies in the Department of Modern Languages at USL) and a live performance in front of a home crowd in Henderson, LA. The latter just begins to touch the excitement that this band can ignite at festivals and dance halls all over the country. I can personally attest to the fire this band can light under a crowd, and the way the crowd feeds back that higher level to the band in a loop that just rocks the dance-hall. The video is certainly of interest, and enjoyable, but the production values are a bit of the home video level.



One technical note: the DualDisc format can be problematic, not playing on all hardware. My recently-purchased (July 2005) Dimension 4700's CD/DVD drive will play the DVD side of the DualDisc with no problem, but if I want to listen to the CD side, I need to enlist my nearly ten-year old Bose CD Music System to play it. The DualDisc is a slightly thicker media than traditional CDs and is reportedly having trouble with about 15% of players. The result for me is I cannot add this recording to my PC music collection, which up until now included every Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys release.



I'd have rated this at 5 Stars, except for that technical issue."