Sisters gets a taste of gumbo and zydeco

Fortified with chicken gumbo and iced tea provided by The Depot Café, prospective students of all ages crowded the Sisters High School Commons area Monday night for a free zydeco dance workshop from soulful singer and bayou accordionist Jeffery Broussard.

His raw and rowdy Louisiana band, Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, was in town playing a special evening performance as part of this year's Sisters Folk Festival Winter Concert Series.

Prior to the show, Broussard coaxed a few dozen folks out onto the floor, men lined up on one side, women on the other, and, microphone in hand, offered up some impromptu tips and tricks for learning some quick and easy dance steps - Louisiana style.

Zydeco is the traditional ethnic music of Southwestern Louisiana's Black Creoles, a melting pot of African, Afro-Caribbean, Native American and French blood. The syncopated rhythms are derived from the shared musical heritage of the Cajun and Creoles. It's a musical pedigree typically found in rural, French-speaking communities and is linked closely to the Cajun culture. Sung in both English and French, popularity of the infectious form has increased heavily in the past 50 years and spread to music lovers around the globe.

Instruments heard in a basic zydeco band include an accordion, a modified washboard called a frattoir, electric guitar, bass and drums.

After a quick demonstration to the beat of an accordion-flavored tune, Broussard instructed everyone to be brave and pair up.

"Just grab yourself a partner and let her rip," he hollered.

Once everyone was comfortable in a simple side-to-side waltz, Broussard ordered up a snappier song and heaped on some more complicated components.

"Okay, that was pretty good," said Broussard. "Now let's try it again but this time choose another dance partner."

Dancers then progressed to a faster two-step, adding in some hand movements and swings, whirling around the makeshift dance floor to the addictive zydeco sounds as the auditorium doors opened for seating, the fun workshop providing a suitable warmup for the band's spicy, energetic set yet to come.

"You're all ready now," he said. "Don't forget this is a dance party tonight so we want to see you all up there feeling the music."

And feel it they did.

The audience filed into the auditorium for two sets of zydeco that had about half the crowd on their feet and dancing the night away.