Alligator Purse

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Album Information

Total Tracks: 13   Total Length: 43:20

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Amelia Raitt

eMusic Contributor

Amelia Raitt is a former writer for the television program Mr. Belvedere and has been writing about pop music of all colors and stripes for eMusic since 2005. S...more »

01.20.09
Beausoleil, Alligator Purse
2009 | Label: Yep Roc Records / Redeye

Beausoleil play traditional, southern country and folk (with some dips into Zydeco), occasionally switching up into French (as on the reworking of Bob Dylan's cover of Muddy Waters '"Rollin 'and Tumblin'"). Alligator Purse is a spirited new album — whimsical without being goofy and full of fun Cajun romps.

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Cajun Album of 2008!

kush

If you like Cajun/Zydeco you'll lilke this- nothing more to say!

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Alligator Purse

By Britt Robson, eMusic Contributor

BeauSoleil is French for "good sun," and it refers to an area in Nova Scotia that was a settling ground for Acadians — the descendants of 17th-century French colonialists. Deported by the British, they migrated to Louisiana and became Cajuns, creating a unique musical and cultural heritage that was unearthed by Michael Doucet. Armed with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Doucet tracked down the pioneers of 20th-century Cajun music in the bayou… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Beausoleil may be as synonymous with Cajun culture as Tasso ham, gumbo filé, and mudbugs, but the veteran shape-shifting Zydeco act is as adept at creating fusion food as it is traditional fare. Bandleader Michael Doucet’s evenhanded fiddling and expressive, amiable voice lead the charge on Alligator Purse, the band’s first for the Yep Roc label. Beausoleil flex their Cajun backbone on opener “Reel Cajun/452 North St. Joseph St.,” one of a handful of straight-up bayou barnburners (“Carrière Zydeco,” “Bosco Stomp”) that are as timeless as they are electrifying, but it’s the band’s penchant for seamless genre-hopping that solidifies its well-deserved reputation as an American institution. Doucet and his small but formidable army’s tasteful renderings of the blues (“Rouler et Tourner”), jazz (“Marie”), and old-timey country (“Little Darlin’”) — the latter featuring some high and lonesome crooning from Natalie Merchant — always keep true to regional ingredients like accordion, Dixieland horns, and a steady Cajun backbeat, resulting in the kind of all-day street party that welcomes both purists and tourists with open arms, cold beer, and steaming plates of Louisiana cooking. – James Christopher Monger

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