Riley Savoy and Toups Form Traditional Cajun SuperBand - The Band Courtboullion

The Louisiana label Valcour Records has just issued a eponymously titled recording by The Band Courtboullion. The recording brings together three major names in Cajun music of the past few decades, Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy along with bassist Eric Frey for a wonderful collection of traditional Cajun songs in an acoustic mode. All three are heard on accordion at different parts and contribute vocals. Toups has it write when he refers to the songs being “a part of the amazing culture that i grew up with and still are a major part of the way I interpret and play the music I play today.”

To listen to Toups take the lead on the lively The Bosco Blues with Savoy adding the crying fiddle as well as Iry Lejeune’s The Convict Waltz. Savoy provides crying fiddle that evokes the classic recordings of The Balfa Brothers and Nathan Abshire from over four decades ago on Swallow Records. Overdubbing allows Riley to play accordion, fiddle and guitar on Lawrence Walker’s La Vie Malheureuse, while his guitar and fiddle support the accordion and vocals of Savoy on another Lawrence Walker song, Chere Alice. There are a couple lively instrumentals including The Hathaway Two-Step with Toups’s driving accordion, fiddle from Savoy and solid rhythm guitar from Riley.

Other songs include favorites from Shirley Bergeron and DL Menard are heard along with the terrific renditions of traditional dance hall and juke box favorites that is wonderfully played and recorded. The physical CD includes a pdf file of song lyrics and translations and a link to valcourrecords.com to download two more performances by the three. This is heartfelt, joyful, traditionally played Cajun music expresses the heart and soul of the Cajuns in Louisiana and reaches the hearts of those who love this music wherever they may be. This can be obtained from Valcour Records or better stores such as the Louisiana Music Factory (from whom I purchased this).

Here are two you tube videos by the three to whet your appetite for this superb recording.