Amédé Ardoin
Amédé Ardoin | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | near Basile, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, U.S. | March 11, 1898
Died | November 3, 1942 Pineville, Louisiana, U.S. | (aged 44)
Genres | Creole, zydeco |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, accordionist |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, Cajun accordion |
Labels | Columbia Records,[1] Brunswick, Vocalion, Decca, Melotone, Bluebird, Arhoolie, Tompkins Square |
Amédé Ardoin (March 11, 1898 – November 3, 1942)[2] was an American musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on German-made one-row diatonic button accordions.[3] He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the groundwork for both Creole and Cajun music in the early 20th century,[4] and wrote several songs now regarded as Cajun and zydeco standards. His music and playing greatly inspired post-war Cajun accordion builders like Marc Savoy.[5]
Early life and career
Ardoin was born near
Ardoin and McGee were among the first artists to record the music of the
His recordings and performances became popular throughout southern Louisiana. In the late 1930s, he played regularly in Eunice, Louisiana with fiddle player Sady Courville, but the two did not record together.[7] Ardoin's music combined "European song forms and African rhythmic approaches such as swing and syncopation... [He] personified this cultural blend and enhanced its development through his deft technique and his ability to improvise. Ardoin was a lively, inventive accordionist who could keep a crowd dancing while playing alone. He was also a soulful singer whose emotional style made dramatic use of elongated, high-pitched notes."[8]
Later life and death
The circumstances that led to Ardoin's death, and the final cause of his death, were uncertain for many years.
Contemporaries said that Ardoin suffered from impaired mental and musical capacities later in his life.
Descendants of family members and musicians who knew Ardoin claimed a story, now well-known, about a racially motivated attack on him in which he was severely beaten, in about 1939, while walking home after playing at a house dance near Eunice. The common story said that some white men were angered when a white woman, daughter of the house, lent her handkerchief to Ardoin to wipe the sweat from his face.[8][10] Ardoin seems never to have fully mentally recovered from this attack.[11]
Another story according to musicians
Studies have concluded that he died as a result of a
Legacy
The 31 songs recorded by Ardoin have become "an important part of the core repertoire of Cajun and Creole music," and his accordion playing and vocals have both been stylistically influential in Cajun music and zydeco.[6]
Along with bandmates like Dennis McGee, Ardoin "crossed the musical color line" in the Jim Crow South, earning the admiration of listeners of both races and creating temporary social spaces where cultural interchange could take place.[11] Anthropologist Sara Le Menestrel notes, "Ardoin is now considered the father of French music by most local musicians, no matter which subcategory of music [i.e., Cajun or Creole] they identify with."[13]
On March 11, 2018, a life-sized statue of Ardoin was unveiled at the
Discography
Compilations
- Amadé Ardoin – Louisiana Cajun Music Vol. 6 : Amadé Ardoin – The First Black Zydeco Recording Artist (1928–1938) (OT-124 Old Timey Records, 1983)
- Pioneers of Cajun Accordion 1926–1936 (LPOT128 Old Timey / Arhoolie, 1989)
- I'm Never Comin Back: Roots of Zydeco (ARH7007 Arhoolie, 1995)
- Amede Ardoin – Mama, I'll Be Long Gone: The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin 1929–1934 (TSQ2554 Tompkins Square Records, 2011)
See also
- History of Cajun Music
- List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music
References
- El Cerrito: Arhoolie Records. pp. 10–14. 096297700723. Archived from the originalon February 4, 2001.
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ a b c Campbell Robertson (May 28, 2015). "Mystery, and Discovery, on the Trail of a Creole Music Pioneer". The New York Times. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
A Creole prodigy who traveled the countryside playing his bluesy two-steps and waltzes, he changed Cajun music and laid down the roots for zydeco. At his death at the age of 44 in 1942, he was Case No.13387 in the state psychiatric hospital, destined for an anonymous burial.
- ISBN 9780807169322.
- ISBN 9781946160805.
I was very familiar with Amédè's music because I would spend hours winding up the crank on my grandmother's Victrola playing her 78's. Also, my father would tell me stories about how he had known Amédè very well and had once hired him to play for a house party in our kitchen before I was born.
- ^ , retrieved February 17, 2024
- ^ a b c Biography by Craig Harris, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 24 November 2016
- ^ a b c d Ben Sandmel, "Amede Ardoin", in knowlouisiana.org Encyclopedia of Louisiana, edited by David Johnson, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, April 20, 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016
- El Cerrito: Arhoolie Records. p. 10. 096297700723. Archived from the originalon February 4, 2001.
- El Cerrito: Arhoolie Records. pp. 5–7. 096297700723. Archived from the originalon February 4, 2001.
- ^ a b Smith, Michael William (Winter 2016). "Pockets of Freedom: Amédé Ardoin and the Racial Politics of Louisiana French Music during Jim Crow, 1929-1942". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 57 (1): 70–90 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Herman Fuselier, "Mr. Ardoin, He Dead", OffBeat Magazine, Vol. 24, Num. 6, June 2011, Page 12.
- ISSN 1534-1488.
- ISBN 9780930169022.
- ^
"Life-sized statue honoring slain musician Amédé Ardoin unveiled Sunday in St. Landry Parish". KLFY. March 11, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
A life-size statue honoring slain musician Amédé Ardoin was unveiled Sunday at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, located at Interstate 49 exit 23 in Opelousas.
External links
- Amédé Ardoin: From sad songs to home statue [1]
- if you abandon me, comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook (#1) [2]
- if you abandon me, comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook (#2) [3]
- Amédé Ardoin & Dennis McGee: Blues du Basile Listen
- I'm Never Coming Back on Arhoolie records
- Amédé Ardoin in Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture at the Wayback Machine (archived October 7, 2007)
- American Roots Music (PBS)
- Louisiana Folklife Program select musician biographies
- The Death of Amedee Ardoin on YouTube