- country:USA
- style(s):Zydeco
- label:Alligator Records
- artist posted by:Unique Gravity
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With his new album, Jackpot!, zydeco maestro Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr. has once again taken matters into his own hands. And we're not just talking about his mastery of the piano accordion or the Hammond B3 organ.
The well-known leader of Buckwheat Zydeco is the first zydeco artist signed to a major record label, the first zydeco artist to perform on a national television show, the first zydeco artist to release a children's album, the first zydeco artist to launch his own record label, and the first zydeco artist to win an Emmy award. Now the Bayou's barnstorming bandleader is back with Jackpot!, his first studio disc since the acclaimed, Trouble, in 1997. The album is Dural's fourth for Tomorrow Recordings (distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance), the label he and longtime manager and collaborator Ted Fox co-founded in 1998.
Jackpot!, released on June 7, 2005, combines soulful original tunes, inspired playing and singing, and the trademark exuberance that's made Dural the world's best-loved zydeco artist, and has earned Buckwheat Zydeco fame as "the world's greatest party band." There's plenty of Buckwheat's signature accordion, and for the first time ever Buck specifically features his soulful mastery of the horizontal keyboard on a three-song Hammond B3 "Encore: featuring Organic Buckwheat".
Jackpot! is just the latest achievement in the four-time Grammy nominee's stellar career. Dural's unsurpassed artistry and tireless touring have taken the Bayou State native's Creole-French rave-ups and soulful breakdowns to new heights worldwide.
The band plays a long list of high-profile gigs year in and year out, and their music can be heard in a slew of major motion pictures and television shows. Onstage and in the studio, Buckwheat has collaborated with a who's who of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Mavis Staples and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo.
The bandleader was born in 1947 in Lafayette, La., a close-knit community where many black people express their Creole heritage by speaking French, and by playing and dancing to zydeco. This hybrid genre blends Afro-Caribbean rhythms with blues, soul, rock, country and the French-rooted Cajun music of the Creoles' white neighbors. As the son of a zydeco accordionist, Buckwheat grew up steeped in this culture, and also absorbed Lafayette's prodigious output of blues and Gulf Coast "swamp pop." He began his professional career as an R&B sideman, playing keyboards for the likes of Joe Tex, Barbara Lynn and Gatemouth Brown. In 1971, Dural began leading his own R&B band, Buckwheat and the Hitch-hikers, playing the contemporary sounds of such popular bands as Parliament Funkadelic and Earth, Wind & Fire. The group scored a regional hit with "It's Hard to Get."
By the mid-'70s, South Louisiana began to experience a grassroots cultural renaissance as zydeco and Cajun music gained appreciation as treasured cultural resources. As the demand for zydeco grew, Dural was offered a gig playing organ and piano with the King of Zydeco, the late, great Clifton Chenier. Buck (as he is also known) worked hard and learned all he could. After three years of touring, recording and accordion apprenticeship, he left in 1979 to lead his own group, Buckwheat Zydeco and the Ils Sont Partis Band. Like Chenier, Buckwheat has continued to blend traditional Creole zydeco with the latest black-contemporary styles, drawing on all of his rich and varied musical experience.
Recording prolifically for various independent labels, Dural attracted the attention of music journalist Ted Fox, who became his manager and co-producer. In 1987, Fox arranged Buckwheat's signing with Island Records. During the years of critical acclaim that have ensued, Buckwheat Zydeco has toured constantly, headlining major venues as well as sharing stages with the likes of U2 and appearing as a featured guest with The Boston Pops - which performed its own orchestrated versions of several Buckwheat Zydeco numbers.
The band performed at both of President Clinton's inaugurals, and Buck was featured on the Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta Summer Olympics before a worldwide television audience of three billion, sharing the bill with Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Little Richard and Gloria Estefan. Buckwheat Zydeco has also made numerous appearances on national television shows such as Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show and the CBS Morning News. Dural was also named a Louisiana Music Commissioner by the governor.
Another first for Buckwheat Zydeco was the release of the band's lively children's album, Choo Choo Boogaloo, on the Music For Little People label. The disc, which has won numerous awards and rave reviews , features zydeco originals as well as classics such as "Iko Iko," "Cotton Fields," "Little Red Caboose" and "Skip To My Lou."
The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1999 by newly releasing its studio LP, Trouble. The disc first appeared in 1997 in the midst of a shakeup at the Mesa/Atlantic label, and was reissued by Buck's label, Tomorrow Recordings, in an effort to bring what he feels is one of his strongest recordings to an even broader audience. Trouble covers the gamut of the Buckwheat Zydeco sound, and has earned rave reviews for its compelling mix of zydeco, blues, rock and soul, all played with trademark finesse and passion.
With the release of Buckwheat Zydeco: Down Home Live! in 2001, Dural showed on his first-ever live album what a powerful and dynamic musician and performer he is. A whole new audience was exposed to the fun and excitement of Buckwheat Zydeco as the song "What You Gonna Do?" from Buckwheat Zydeco: Down Home Live! served as the theme music for the 10th anniversary season of Comic View, BET's #1-rated series.
The new Buckwheat Zydeco disc will no doubt generate new reviews like those that have followed the band's recorded work and concert appearances. Anyone seeking the essence of zydeco music as seen through the prism of rock, soul and jazz will certainly feel that they've hit the Jackpot!