D'Jalma Garnier | |
|---|---|
 In New Orleans, Louisiana 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | Creole, Cajun, zydeco |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, disc jockey |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, fiddle, bass |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Green Linnet, Arhoolie |
D'Jalma Garnier is a musician and composer best known for Creole and Cajun fiddle and "outside" musical compositions and collaborations with other artists.
His musical heritage descends from the Camelia Brass Band in New Orleans led by his grandfather, D'Jalma Thomas Garnier (also spelled Ganier while with Camelia Brass Band), a legendary early jazz player noted on the Preservation Hall roster in the New Orleans French Quarter [1] and who was a trumpet player, pianist and violinist said to have taught Louis Armstrong at the New Orleans Boys Home for Colored Waifs. [2] D'Jalma Garnier, the fiddler, composer, guitarist, and "pedestrian scholar" of Louisiana Creole fame, is the older brother of Tony Garnier, Bob Dylan's band leader and bass player for the Neverending Tour Band since 1989. The two brothers, along with musician Stephen "Stevo" Théard (son of Magdelene Elizabeth Garnier, and grandson of Papa Garnier) are the only descendants of Papa Garnier to become professional musicians in the legacy of this significant New Orleans musical family.
D'Jalma Garnier has been the subject and contributor to many articles and documentaries about Louisiana Creole music. He plays fiddle and guitar, and has performed and recorded with many leading Creole musicians. His study of Creole fiddle playing was advanced as the result of a two-year Texas Folklife Resources Grant to study and perform with the NEA National Heritage Award winner Canray Fontenot. D'Jalma has taught this material repeatedly at the Augusta Folklife Heritage Camp in North Carolina, for Louisiana Folk Roots in Lafayette, and in other workshops at home and abroad. [3]
The musical accomplishments of Garnier's heritage and work with zydeco and Cajun bands in Acadiana do not detract from his work as an ethnomusicologist of Louisiana Francophone cultures or forays into avant-garde and electronic music. He is a multi-instrumentalist who performs professionally on bass and guitar, as well as fiddle, in a variety of genres. His musical work with poets includes performances and recordings with Allen Ginsberg and Hedwig Gorski, among others. Garnier produces Passport to Modern Jazz on KRVS-FM radio to "walk you through the gate" of new and progressive artists. [4]
Mel Bay released Garnier's 2009 book, a method book with a collection of 14 songs by the masters of Louisiana Creole fiddle music, and an instructional DVD with supplemental performances. The songs were chosen because they are either the first ones people tend to learn, were written by a master and have many possibilities for variations, or cover related styles. The method covers the technique step-by-step along with tricks necessary to perform the music. Garnier created sheet music for many Creole folk classics. The transcriptions are unique for this music genre because these songs have been passed down from player to player and learned by ear.
This volume is a rich sampling of core material from Louisiana roots music. The late Canray Fontenot is the best known Creole fiddler, and much of this book is infused with his legacy, including five of his compositions and a video clip. Mr. Garnier has included two of his own tunes, and the rest are by pioneer Louisiana fiddlers of the past—Amédé Ardoin, Bébé Carrière, and Dennis McGee, along with zydeco favorite Boozoo Chavis. The method part of the book explains Creole fiddle technique, including bowing, cross bowing, fingering, double stops, and scratching, helping the reader learn to play in a Louisiana style. Along with learning to play solo, information is included on working with accordion players, a second fiddle, guitarists, starting a tune in a group and other tips about working with bands, and amplification. Additional resources are available when playing the disc on a computer. [5]
Zydeco is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers. It blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Although it is distinct in origin from the Cajun music of Louisiana, the two forms influenced each other, forming a complex of genres native to the region.
The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based zydeco music. Both are from southwest Louisiana and share French and African origins. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials.
BeauSoleil is a Cajun band from Louisiana, United States.
Amédé Ardoin was an American musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on German-made one-row diatonic button accordions. He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the groundwork for both Creole and Cajun music in the early 20th century, and wrote several songs now regarded as Cajun and zydeco standards. His music and playing greatly inspired post-war Cajun accordion builders like Marc Savoy.
Michael Louis Doucet is an American singer-songwriter and musician best known as the founder of the Cajun band BeauSoleil.
The term Creole music is used to refer to two distinct musical traditions: art songs adapted from 19th-century vernacular music; or the vernacular traditions of Louisiana Creole people which have persisted as 20th- and 21st-century la la and zydeco in addition to influencing Cajun music.
Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin was a Creole accordionist who specialized in the Creole music called "la la music" or "la musique Creole" and was influential in what became zydeco music.
Canray Fontenot was an American Creole fiddle player, who has been described as "the greatest Creole Louisiana French fiddler of our time."
Cajun music has its roots based in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada, and in country music.
The Camelia Brass Band was a New Orleans-style brass band, founded by Wooden Joe Nicholas around 1917 or 1918 in New Orleans.
The Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists at the 50th, 51st, 52nd and 53rd Annual Grammy Awards (2008–2011) for quality zydeco or cajun music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
The culture of Louisiana involves its music, food, religion, clothing, language, architecture, art, literature, games, and sports. Often, these elements are the basis for one of the many festivals in the state. Louisiana, while sharing many similarities to its neighbors along the Gulf Coast, is unique in the influence of Louisiana French culture, due to the historical waves of immigration of French-speaking settlers to Louisiana. Likewise, African-American culture plays a prominent role. While New Orleans, as the largest city, has had an outsize influence on Louisiana throughout its history, other regions both rural and urban have contributed their shared histories and identities to the culture of the state.
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards.
Cajun fiddle music is a part of the American fiddle music canon. It is derived from the music of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, as well as sharing repertoire from the Quebec and Cape Breton Island traditions. It is one of the few extant North American folk music traditions rooted in French chanson. According to Ron Yule, "Louisiana fiddling had its birth roots in Europe, with fiddling being noted as early as the 1400s in Scotland". Zydeco music is a geographically, culturally, and musically related style.
David Greely is a professional fiddler from south Louisiana.
John Irvin Delafose was an American French-speaking Creole Zydeco accordionist from Louisiana.
Inez Catalon was an American Creole ballad singer, who was one of the most well-known performers of the genre known as Louisiana "home music". These are a cappella versions of ballads and love songs, drinking songs, game songs, lullabies and waltzes performed by women in the home, passed down from earlier generations to provide entertainment for the family before radio and television existed. Home music is not considered part of the public performance repertoire of Cajun and zydeco music because the songs were sung in the home by women, rather than in the dance halls of southwestern Louisiana which featured almost exclusively male performers.
La Vie Marron is an album by the American band Filé, released in 1996. The title translates as "The Runaway Life".
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