Aly Bain et al.
Album: Aly Meets The Cajuns (DVD & CD)
Label: Whirlie
Tracks: n/a
Website: http://www.whirlie.co.uk

Some of us have been waiting eagerly for this landmark documentary film to be made available for home consumption! Made for (UK) Channel 4 as a 1988/89 New Year Special, and beating over 30 other competitors to be screened for that occasion, it featured the killer combination of master Shetland fiddler Aly Bain and a host of stars of cajun music, a genre which Aly was known to heartily espouse and for which he has always had a deep affection and affinity.

This film was a natural follow-on from the 1986 Channel 4 series Down Home, and later paved the way for key collaborations in the Transatlantic Sessions series. This celebration of cajun music and culture includes plenty of footage of musicians in their home environment, often in the same room as groups of dancers, and a tremendous feel of intense enjoyment permeates every second. From the classic cajun of the late Dewey Balfa to the unashamedly sassy "bean-feasts" of Queen Ida Guillory's Bon Temps Zydeco Band and Boozoo Chavis (the latter now sadly no longer with us), via the "renaissance cajun" of the wonderful Savoy-Doucet Band, this film covers the many and varied aspects of cajun music, and the musical extracts are spiced with conversations with the artistes unearthing often fascinating snippets of information regarding cajun culture - a way of life, indeed. Other, arguably lesser-known artists appearing include charismatic fiddler Harry LaFleur, vibrant singer D.L. Menard (with his Louisiana Aces) and champion of progressive cajun Wayne Toups; and Aly can be seen adding his trois sous to the musical gumbo by joining in enthusiastically at every session opportunity!

This 50-minute film is over way too soon, and fair exudes joie de vivre par excellence! As does the accompanying CD, which contains 16 full-length music tracks from the film's featured artists (9 of the cuts also involve Aly Bain himself). These are presented in the same order as they occur on the documentary, although the audio CD omits two additional song performances (the rockin' Zydecajun Train by Wayne Toups and Raywood by Queen Ida respectively) which are exclusive to the DVD and otherwise would've conveniently slotted in after track 11 and before track 15 (total playing-time of the CD would easily have permitted their inclusion). While on the other hand, tracks 12, 13, 14 and 16 of the audio CD are exclusive to that format… But hey, laissez les bons temps rouler!

David Kidman