Cajun
Forming a trilogy of sound with 1999's Putumayo releasesLouisiana GumboandZydeco(one of the label's biggest sellers of all time),Putumayo Presents Cajunmay prove redundant for serious enthusiasts of the genre yet is an excellent starting point for newer listeners. Southwestern Louisiana Cajun culture, born of the French Acadians displaced when their homeland was taken over by the British in the mid-1700s, is celebrated for both its food and its music. The tunes are often folk ballads, lullabies, and dance music like waltzes or two-steps. Cajun music is related to but distinct from zydeco; both feature the accordion as lead instrument, but the latter incorporates electric guitar and pays a greater debt to rhythm & blues than does the older-fashioned acoustic stylings of the former. To that end, there is still a great deal of room for an influx of influences in Cajun music, such as the country flavor of theJambalaya Cajun Band's version of the popular "Les Flammes d'en Fer" as it appears on this collection.David Doucet, ofBeausoleil, one of the genre's better-known groups, contributes a bluegrassy version of "Balfa Waltz," one of several of the compilation's references to Cajun music greatDewey Balfaand his family of players. Doucet's turn here features guitar in the lead and the appearance ofJosh Graveson Dobro. Elsewhere there is a great deal of fiddle-accordion pairings in the traditional manner of the style, with bits of Texas swing, Creole, and zydeco to spice it all up quite handsomely.--Paige La Grone