WOMAD

Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole workshop

17:00 23rd July on the Real Ale Bar

Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole Biography

The fresh-faced future of zydeco

The makers of Scrabble recently attempted to make the game more appealing to a younger generation by modifying the rules to accept pronouns, thus allowing the kids to slap down the name of the celeb du jour. Still a twenty-something himself, Cedric Watson knows that throwing such gimmickry at a long-standing institution is a futile exercise. Charged with protecting Louisiana's zydeco and Cajun heritage, this fiddler/accordionist boasts a keen eye for both history and unfussy music-making. Now resident in Lafayette, that capital of Cajun country, Cedric's upbringing in Texas hasn't disqualified him from receiving some weighty testimonials from the music's elders, all of whom appear decidedly chuffed that the tradition is in such respectful hands. And, like his contemporaries, the old-timey three-piece the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Cedric is proof that the sound of young black America need not drip with bling or worship semi-automatic weaponry.
(Biography by Nige Tassell 2010)