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 With
his new album, Jackpot!, zydeco maestro Stanley "Buckwheat"
Dural Jr. has once again taken matters into his own hands. And
we're not just talking about his mastery of the piano
accordion or the Hammond B3 organ.
The well-known leader of Buckwheat Zydeco is the first zydeco
artist signed to a major record label, the first zydeco artist
to perform on a national television show, the first zydeco
artist to release a children's album, the first zydeco
artist to launch his own record label, and the first zydeco
artist to win an Emmy award. Now the Bayou's barnstorming
bandleader is back with Jackpot!, his first studio disc
since the acclaimed, Trouble, in 1997. The album is Dural's
fourth for Tomorrow Recordings (distributed by Alternative
Distribution Alliance), the label he and longtime manager
and collaborator Ted Fox co-founded in 1998.
Jackpot!, released on June 7, 2005, combines soulful
original tunes, inspired playing and singing, and the trademark
exuberance that's made Dural the world's best-loved zydeco artist,
and has earned Buckwheat Zydeco fame as "the world's greatest
party band." There's plenty of Buckwheat's signature accordion,
and for the first time ever Buck specifically features his soulful
mastery of the horizontal keyboard on a three-song Hammond B3
"Encore: featuring Organic Buckwheat".
Jackpot! is just the latest achievement in the four-time
Grammy nominee's stellar career. Dural's unsurpassed
artistry and tireless touring have taken the Bayou State native's
Creole-French rave-ups and soulful breakdowns to new heights
worldwide.
The band plays a long list of high-profile gigs year in and
year out, and their music can be heard in a slew of major
motion pictures and television shows. Onstage and in the studio,
Buckwheat has collaborated with a who's who of musicians,
including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Dwight
Yoakam, Mavis Staples and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo.
The bandleader was born in 1947 in Lafayette, La., a close-knit
community where many black people express their Creole heritage
by speaking French, and by playing and dancing to zydeco.
This hybrid genre blends Afro-Caribbean rhythms with blues,
soul, rock, country and the French-rooted Cajun music of the
Creoles' white neighbors. As the son of a zydeco accordionist,
Buckwheat grew up steeped in this culture, and also absorbed
Lafayette's prodigious output of blues and Gulf Coast
"swamp pop." He began his professional career as
an R&B sideman, playing keyboards for the likes of Joe
Tex, Barbara Lynn and Gatemouth Brown. In 1971, Dural began
leading his own R&B band, Buckwheat and the Hitch-hikers,
playing the contemporary sounds of such popular bands as Parliament
Funkadelic and Earth, Wind & Fire. The group scored a
regional hit with "It's Hard to Get."
By the mid-'70s, South Louisiana began to experience
a grassroots cultural renaissance as zydeco and Cajun music
gained appreciation as treasured cultural resources. As the
demand for zydeco grew, Dural was offered a gig playing organ
and piano with the King of Zydeco, the late, great Clifton
Chenier. Buck (as he is also known) worked hard and learned
all he could. After three years of touring, recording and
accordion apprenticeship, he left in 1979 to lead his own
group, Buckwheat Zydeco and the Ils Sont Partis Band. Like
Chenier, Buckwheat has continued to blend traditional Creole
zydeco with the latest black-contemporary styles, drawing
on all of his rich and varied musical experience.
Recording prolifically for various independent labels, Dural
attracted the attention of music journalist Ted Fox, who became
his manager and co-producer. In 1987, Fox arranged Buckwheat's
signing with Island Records. During the years of critical
acclaim that have ensued, Buckwheat Zydeco has toured constantly,
headlining major venues as well as sharing stages with the
likes of U2 and appearing as a featured guest with The Boston
Pops – which performed its own orchestrated versions
of several Buckwheat Zydeco numbers.
The band performed at both of President Clinton's inaugurals,
and Buck was featured on the Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta
Summer Olympics before a worldwide television audience of
three billion, sharing the bill with Wynton Marsalis, Stevie
Wonder, Faith Hill, Little Richard and Gloria Estefan. Buckwheat
Zydeco has also made numerous appearances on national television
shows such as Late Night with David Letterman, The Today Show
and the CBS Morning News. Dural was also named a Louisiana
Music Commissioner by the governor.
Another first for Buckwheat Zydeco was the release of the
band's lively children's album, Choo Choo Boogaloo,
on the Music For Little People label. The disc – which
has won numerous awards and rave reviews – features
zydeco originals as well as classics such as "Iko Iko,"
"Cotton Fields," "Little Red Caboose"
and "Skip To My Lou."
The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1999 by newly
releasing its studio LP, Trouble. The disc first appeared
in 1997 in the midst of a shakeup at the Mesa/Atlantic label,
and was reissued by Buck's label, Tomorrow Recordings,
in an effort to bring what he feels is one of his strongest
recordings to an even broader audience. Trouble covers the
gamut of the Buckwheat Zydeco sound, and has earned rave reviews
for its compelling mix of zydeco, blues, rock and soul, all
played with trademark finesse and passion.
With the release of Buckwheat Zydeco: Down Home Live! in
2001, Dural showed on his first-ever live album what a powerful
and dynamic musician and performer he is. A whole new audience was exposed to the fun and excitement
of Buckwheat Zydeco as the song "What You Gonna Do?"
from Buckwheat Zydeco: Down Home Live! served as the theme
music for the 10th anniversary season of Comic View, BET's
#1-rated series.
The new Buckwheat Zydeco disc will no doubt generate new
reviews like those that have followed the band's recorded
work and concert appearances. Anyone seeking the essence of
zydeco music as seen through the prism of rock, soul and jazz
will certainly feel that they've hit the Jackpot!
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