Series Editor: Barry Jean Ancelet
This series comprises recordings John A. and Alan Lomax made in Louisiana in the mid-1930s for the Archive of American Folk Music at the Library of Congress. An introductory essay by Alan Lomax recalls their experiences and includes a Cantometric analysis of the styles they found there, “I hope,” he wrote, “that my readers will be as impressed as I have been in coming back to the Louisiana collection after more than forty years, by the richness and variety of this regional tradition. Here, clearly portrayed, are the roots of the engaging Cajun music of the present day, unequaled anywhere else in the French-speaking world.”

Vol. 1: The Hoffpauir Family / Fiddles & Accordions

Vol. 2: Ballads, Laments, & Drinking Songs / Zydeco, Juré, and the Blues Recorded by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax Notes by Alan Lomax and Barry Jean Ancelet

“The Lomaxes recorded a whole different side of music in South Louisiana — unaccompanied ballad singers and solo instrumentalists. They recorded styles that were old then, as opposed to styles that were only popular then — thus deepening our understanding of the roots of Cajun music and its Creole cousin, zydeco, far beyond anything we had known before.” —Janet McConnaughey, Associated Press

“Contemporary Cajun and Creole musicians have proved right the Lomaxes’ desire to preserve America’s oldest traditional music for future generations — they are now retooling and recycling this very material and turning it into brand new old songs. The release of this expanded CD version will keep refueling this important creative process.” —Barry Jean Ancelet