The Savoy Family Cajun
Band
Marc and Ann ,as the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, have been performing and recording together since 1977, recording five Cds on the Arhoolie label. They have traveled all over the world, appearing in all the most prestigious venues, such as the Newport Folk Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Concert Series, even the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England, to name a few. The nation has rewarded them for their authenticity and expertise by taking them on numerous state department tours, featuring them in national festivals, awarding Marc Savoy the highest honor in the country for traditional artists, the honorable National Heritage Fellowship Award. The couple recently appeared on the PBS series “American Roots”, and Ann wrote the chapter on Cajun music in the book that accompanied the series which was published by Rolling Stone Press. Ann and son Joel recently appeared in the film “Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” and they perform three songs on the Warner Brothers soundtrack. Ann was awarded the Botkin Book Award for her definitive book on the history of Cajun music. Although the Savoy Family Cajun Band insists upon maintaining a more accoustic approach to Cajun music the band can hold hold its own amongst Cajun music lovers everywhere. In fact, the band loves seeing how much power and sound they can get out of just four instruments. Each member of the band can play numerous instruments and sometimes trade instruments during stage performances. Sometimes the group demonstrates the way Cajun music has evolved by demonstrating the early double fiddle - triangle sound or the solo accordion - fiddle sound. Early French ballads are added to the program to show other historic elements prevelant in early southwest Louisiana. Between the songs the Cajun French poetry of the songs is often briefly translated by Ann so that the feeling can be better understood.Their repertoire is chosen carefully, popular dancehall tunes interspersed with soulful ballads, fiddle or vocal duets, or blues. The songs show the spectrum of Cajun life from sorrow and lost love to nonsense and the joy of dance. The Savoy Family Cajun Band brings the raw energy of the dancehalls of southwest Louisiana to the stage, peppered with humourous and informative anecdotes about life on the Louisiana prairies. Their first CD has been recently released on Arhoolie Records this year.
A striking feature of Marc’s presence is his down-hominess and devotion to preserving Cajun culture. Whether he is playing at his weekly jam session, on a porch, at a dance or festival, it is all the same. He presents his music in it’s natural state, no glitz, no Cool Whip, no glamour. Today Savoy travels and plays music with his wife Ann and Michael Doucet or the Savoy Family Band which features his wife Ann and their two sons, Joel and Wilson. He has recorded seven CDs on the Arhoolie label and has traveled throughout the US ,Europe, and Canada. Some of the festivals the band has performed for include three presidential inaugurations, the John F. Kennedy Center , the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London,the Newport Folk Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, the Jambalaya Jam in Philadelphia, Cajun Bluegrass Festival in California and Rhode Island, Festival of American Music in Oregon, Kaustinen Folk Festival of Finland, Le Carrefour des Accordions in Trois Rivieres, Canada, and many more. Savoy loves being in Louisiana where he is known for being an outspoken cultural preservationist, fighting to keep the music pure and unadulterated .In 1982 he was awarded the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Marc recently appeared in the PBS documentary, American Roots Series.
She has recorded six CDs on the Arhoolie and Rounder labels. Ann has appeared in many documentaries on the subject of Cajun music, most recently PBS series American Roots Music, and with her husband was the subject of Les Blank’s film, Marc and Ann. She also works as an record producer for Vanguard Records, for whom she produced the Grammy nominated tribute to Cajun music, Evangeline Made, featuring, among others, pop and folk idols Linda Ronstadt, John Fogerty, Richard and Linda Thompson, Nick Lowe, and Rodney Crowell performing traditional Cajun tunes. Her new project for Vanguard, a tribute to Creole and Zydeco, entitled Creole Bred , will be out in May, 2004. In 2003 he produced a CD for the state of Louidiana showcasing all the musical styles found within the Atchafalaya Heritage region. This CD can be obtained by sending a donation to Adriane Kramer, Atchafalaya Trace Commission, Dept of Culture, Recreation and Tourism in Baton Rouge. As a writer , she is the author of the Botkin award winning book, Cajun Music, A Reflection of a People, a book which chronicles the history of Cajun and Zydeco music through interviews, biographies, historic and current photographs, and song transcriptions. She wrote the chapter on Cajun and Zydeco in the recently released book, American Roots Music, Rolling Stone Press, as well as authoring numerous articles on Cajun music and historic CD booklets.
By age 21, Wilson was touring around the United States and France teaching accordion at music camps such as Augusta, Fiddle Tunes, and Tikendalc'h in Bretagne, France. Wilson's accordion style is influenced heavily by blues and improvisation, as his role models are Amédé Ardoin, Iry LeJeune, Lawrence Walker, and his father, Marc Savoy, but enjoys and continues to be influenced by old and modern Cajun, Soul, and Blues ranging from traditional and modern Cajun and Zydeco to Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis piano styles.Wilson heads his own young Cajun band, the Pine Leaf Boys, playing both accordion and fiddle. He records on the Lion's Gate label. Wilson has received an honorary state grant to study fiddle with the brilliant fiddle legend, Ken Smith. Wilson plays twin fiddle inspired by Ken Smith, Mike Doucet, Lionel Leloux, and David Greely. |