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CD Review
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Cranky Crow, CD Review >>
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys' follow-up to Bon Reve, Dominos takes a long gaze at community. The community is as close as friends and family members that appear on the CD cover along with the band members and as far reaching as every life on this great planet. Musical ancestors and elders of the Cajun tradition are honored along side more contemporary innovators. Many styles of music from Celtic, Creole, blues and bluegrass fuse into the Cajun music genre and the lyrics grapple with death, our existence and longing. The lyrics often mirror the blues, and Wait Until I Finish Crying is a good example. The lyrics could easily grace delta blues.
The titular track reflects on a universal theme and how each of us touches one another without our knowledge. "We do what we know. We fall like dominos in the direction we are pushed, and everything we do extends through other people in a wave beyond the horizons of our lives." (liner notes). The English translation of the French lyrics reflect on a storm that crosses the ocean that eventually changes everything in its path. Chills ran up my spine when I read these prophetic lyrics of a song that was recorded over 6 months before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. It's also ironic that Dominos speaks eloquently about community since it will take the global community to rebuild cities such as New Orleans.
I do not wish to give you the impression that accordionist Steve Riley and his talented band mates perform dirges and funeral marches. I find the lyrics as heartbreaking as the blues, but for the most part, these musicians are kicking into gear with frenzied fiddle, drums, bass, guitar and accordion. This is dance music after all that begs its devotees to dance until their feet are sore and catharsis runs its course. Personally, I prefer the slower waltzes such as, Marie Has Died written by a Creole poet-slave from St. Martinville and arranged by fiddler David Greely as well as, Wait Till I Finish Crying, which also has an intriguing story attached to it. This collection of includes original material as well as, songs written by Cajun music legends, D. L. Menard, Amede and Bois-Sec Ardoin, Denis McGee, Nolan Dugas, Slim Doucet and Varise Conner. There's more than enough spice here to whet the appetite and leave some begging for more. 12/22/05 >> go there
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