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BeauSoleil
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BeauSoleil at the Minnesota State Fair, 2016
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Cajun, zydeco, folk |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels | Swallow, Arhoolie, Rounder, Rhino, Vanguard, Yep Roc, Compass |
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| Past members |
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| Website | beausoleilmusic |
BeauSoleil (French, beautiful sun) is a Cajun band from Louisiana, United States.[1]
Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil (often billed as "BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet") released its first album in 1977 and became one of the most well-known bands performing traditional and original music rooted in the folk tunes of the Cajuns and CreolesofLouisiana.[2][1] In early years they appeared at CODOFIL's annual "Tribute to Cajun Music" in Lafayette, Louisiana.[2][3] They were part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1983.[4]
BeauSoleil tours extensively in the U.S. and internationally. While its repertoire includes hundreds of traditional Cajun, Creole and zydeco songs, BeauSoleil has also pushed past constraints of purely traditional instrumentation, rhythm, and lyrics of Louisiana folk music, incorporating elements of rock and roll, jazz, blues, calypso, and other genres in original compositions and reworkings of traditional tunes. Lyrics on BeauSoleil recordings are sung in English or Cajun French (and sometimes both in one song).
According to the band's website, BeauSoleil's musicians "take the rich Cajun traditions of Louisiana and artfully blend elements of zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues and more into a satisfying musical recipe." The band's name is a tribute to Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, an Acadian resistance leader who led many Acadians to Louisiana following their expulsion by the British.
BeauSoleil has appeared on soundtracks to films The Big Easy,[1] Passion Fish and Belizaire the Cajun. The group plays at jazz and folk festivals and has appeared on numerous television shows, including CNN's Showbiz Today, Austin City Limits, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Emeril Live. BeauSoleil appeared regularly on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio show. Keillor has hailed the group as the "best Cajun band in the world". BeauSoleil has also performed in concert with Mary Chapin Carpenter and opened for the Grateful Dead. Carpenter featured them on her 1991 single "Down at the Twist and Shout",[1] in which they are also mentioned by name.[5]
BeauSoleil is one of a few groups performing traditional Louisiana music to win a Grammy Award. L'Amour Ou La Folie (Love Or Folly), recorded in 1996 and released on Rhino Records, earned the 1997 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. In a review on Amazon.com, Richard Gehr wrote, "By now the sextet transcends the dancehall, possessing the ability to transform nearly any traditional Cajun, Creole, or French tune into high art while preserving a clear sonic bloodline back to its roots."
In 2005, BeauSoleil's Gitane Cajun, released on Vanguard Records, earned the group its tenth Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album. A reflection of its versatility is that BeauSoleil has also earned a Grammy nomination in the Contemporary Folk category, for the 1999 album Cajunization, with songs that effortlessly span Cajun, calypso, French ballad, blues and other musical styles.
In 2005, BeauSoleil won the Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Cajun Band, the tenth time the band was honored in the 18-year history of the awards presented by the New Orleans music and entertainment publication Gambit Weekly.
In 2005, BeauSoleil founder Michael Doucet was one of 12 artists awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2008, BeauSoleil won another Grammy in the then newly created Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album category for the album Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
BeauSoleil was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2011.[6]
The BeauSoleil Quartet was interviewed by Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center to preserve their oral history on June 28, 2017.[7]
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