Whats the difference between Cajun and Zydeco music?
Until the end of World War II, there was little difference between Cajun and its close musical cousin, zydeco. Although some refer to Cajun as the domain of white descendants of the Canadian exiles and Zydeco as that of French-speaking black Creoles, it was an African-American accordion virtuoso named Amedee Ardoin who pioneered the sound we recognize today as Cajun music. Ardoin’s 1930s music with fiddler Dennis McGee has a rhythm similar to that of Boozoo Chavis’ Zydeco recordings from the 1950s. The traditional Cajun sound uses just fiddle, accordion, guitar and triangle. Two-steps and waltzes are the main song styles. Zydeco is distinguished from Cajun by faster, chugging rhythms, the use of a frottoir as a percussion instrument, lack of a fiddle, and a strong rhythm-and-blues influence. Because Zydeco is open to outside influences, many of today’s Zydeco bands perform rock and R&B-oriented music with the accordion as the lead instrument.
