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American musical legend Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr.—along with his band, Buckwheat Zydeco—is the preeminent ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music. 2009 marks Buckwheat Zydeco’s 30th anniversary, and Buckwheat is celebrating with the release of his new CD (and Alligator Records debut), Lay Your Burden Down. The New York Times says, “Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances.” The Louisiana vocalist, accordion and organ master recorded his
new CD at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana with Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) producing, as well as leading the horn section.
Lay Your Burden Down is the most ambitious, deepest and varied recording of Buckwheat Zydeco’s career. It is a remarkably conceived, rocking album featuring five new Buckwheat originals and complete reinventions of songs by Memphis Minnie (When The Levee Breaks, made famous by Led Zeppelin), Bruce Springsteen (Back In Your Arms), Gov’t Mule (Lay Your Burden Down), Captain Beefheart (Too Much Time), Jimmy Cliff (Let Your Yeah Be Yeah) and JJ Grey & Mofro (The Wrong Side). Guests on the album include Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, Steve Berlin, JJ Grey and Trombone Shorty. As New Orleans author Ben Sandmel writes in the liner notes, “Lay Your Burden Down pulses with music that tells a story. Since it’s zydeco, this album will naturally get feet to moving. But Lay Your Burden Down speaks with equal eloquence to the head, and the heart.” In this, Buckwheat’s first post-Katrina album, Louisiana’s life-affirming jazz funeral philosophy of renewal—partying in the face of adversity—is on full display, with joyful, rhythmic dance music and deeper, more intense songs sharing the same celebratory bayou sprit. With Lay Your Burden Down, Buckwheat Zydeco’s large and loyal fan base will have to make room for a massive influx of new converts. Over the course of 30 years, Buckwheat Zydeco has gigged with everyone from Eric Clapton (with whom Buckwheat also recorded) and U2 to The Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. Buckwheat even performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations. The band has appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman, CNN, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News and many others. According to Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer, the addition of Buckwheat Zydeco to the label is huge. “Buckwheat is the iconic figure of Louisiana zydeco music worldwide. It’s a thrill to bring an artist of this stature to Alligator. More important, he tears it up at every show. His energy level and accordion chops are just amazing, and he’s a terrific, soulful singer. Plus, he’s a thrilling Hammond organ player. I’m also excited to reunite Buckwheat with Steve Berlin of Los Lobos as producer. Berlin produced Five Card Stud, one of Buckwheat’s finest albums, and we believe Buckwheat’s Alligator debut is even better. Also, Buckwheat has been booked for years by Concerted Efforts, a great agency for American roots music.” Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1947. He acquired his nickname because, with his braided hair, he looked like Buckwheat from The Little Rascals. His father was an accomplished, non-professional traditional Creole accordion player, but young Buckwheat preferred listening to and playing R&B. He became proficient at the organ, and by the late 1950s was backing Joe Tex, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and many others. In 1971 he formed Buckwheat and The Hitchhikers, a 15-piece funk and soul band. They were a local sensation and found success with the single, “It’s Hard To Get,” recorded for a local Louisiana-based label. Never a traditional zydeco fan when growing up, Buckwheat nonetheless accepted an invitation in 1976 to join Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band as organist. He quickly discovered the joy and power of zydeco music, and marveled at the effect the music had on the audience. “Everywhere, people young and old just loved zydeco music,” Buckwheat says. “I had so much fun playing that first night with Clifton. We played for four hours and I wasn’t ready to quit.” Buckwheat’s relationship with the legendary Chenier led him to take up the accordion in 1978.
After woodshedding for a year, he felt ready to start his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco, and began his recording career with the small Blues Unlimited label. By the mid-1980s there were more offers to perform than he could possibly accept. Recordings for Black Top and Rounder followed before Buckwheat befriended New York-based journalist Ted Fox, who championed Buckwheat to Chris Blackwell at Island Records in 1986. Buckwheat Zydeco signed a five-record deal and Fox became and still remains his manager. The success of these records kept Buckwheat Zydeco on the road and in constant demand. In 1988, Eric Clapton invited the band to open his North American tour as well as his 12-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. As even more doors opened, Buckwheat found himself sharing stages and/or recording with Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, David Hidalgo, Dwight Yoakam, Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and many others, including indie music stalwarts Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack to the Bob Dylan bio-pic, I’m Not There. His music has been featured in films ranging from The Waterboy, The Big Easy, Fletch Lives and Hard Target to name a few. BET’s #1-rated show, Comic View, used his live version of What You Gonna Do? as theme music for the program’s 10th anniversary “Pardi Gras” season. He even wrote and performed the theme music for the PBS television series Pierre Franey’s Cooking In America. Buckwheat won an Emmy for his music in the CBS TV movie, Pistol Pete: The Life And Times Of Pete Maravich. Buckwheat Zydeco has played just about every major music festival in the world, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (numerous times), Newport Folk Festival, Summerfest, San Diego Street Scene, Bumbershoot, Montreaux Jazz Festival and countless others. During the 1990s and 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label and maintained an extensive touring schedule. Along with his remarkably talented band, he brings his music to fans all over the world. Now, with his new relationship with Alligator and Lay Your Burden Down, his massive instrumental and vocal talents and boundless energy, Buckwheat, already the most popular zydeco artist in the world, will find the largest and most enthusiastic audience of his long and storied career.
“A propulsive, rollicking, swamp-boogie joy ride.”
People
“Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural, Jr. is the leader of the world’s hottest zydeco band. Buckwheat is a brilliantly dexterous musician belting it out with a terrific set of pipes while exuding consummate showmanship. From beginning to end, Buck throws it down and slams it sideways.”
OffBeat
"Lay Your Burden Down ends up being Dural's most accomplished and mature album yet, moving from start to finish like everything belongs together. Nothing misses its mark, and several tracks do so much more than that… He has given us something else again, an album that works both at the dance party and still rings clear the next day when maybe it's time to dig deeper and do a little thinking. It's the best kind of musical synthesis."
Allmusic.com
"You can't attack a levee with a guitar, but Buckwheat Zydeco and Sonny Landreth seem to try on "When the Levee Breaks…" It's a startling and potent opening to an album that goes on to subvert all expectations… There's almost too much life on this near-bursting release, proving that thirty years into the music game, Buckwheat Zydeco is still brimming with ideas."
Rhapsody.com
"The results are stunning…The entire work is a vibrant testament to Buckwheat Zydeco’s spirit, reminding us that Louisiana’s musical heritage has taken all the hurricanes could give. This is an album that can introduce a new generation of music fans to the world of Zydeco music and serve as a wonderful reminder about what a great Zydeco band can do."
Living Blues
"Producer Steve Berlin captures Dural's natural bayou bounce but lets him wander into other territory while keeping one foot firmly in zydeco… But Dural's sound is as steeped in blues as in the joyous Louisiana soul at the heart of this outstanding, wonderfully diverse set."
Blues Revue
"On this sucker he nails it firm and deep…The opener "When The Levee Breaks," the Memphis Minnie/Kansas Joe McCoy classic known to rock fans from Led Zep's version, signals that something magical is happening here with its Louisiana-style Southern rock fury…With the able assistance of Steve Berlin as producer, the singer and accordionist creates a potent brand of Greater Gulf Music…By the time this delicious disc cools down on the closing grace note instrumental waltz of "Finding My Way Back Home," you know you're in the presence of bayou music greatness."
Blurt.com
"Ace accordionist Buckwheat Zydeco (Stanley Dural) celebrates his 30th anniversary in the business with the hands-down best album he’s ever waxed, moving away from straight zydeco and into a vital, ultra-soulful zone of his own… Is this the r & b-based zydeco with which Dural made his bones? No. It’s something deeper and better."
The Boston Herald
"Album of The Week: Buckwheat Zydeco, has been carrying the torch for his eponymous music for more than three decades… He is a fine accordionist, but there's always been more to his sound. He is a gutsy pianist and organist who earned his stripes in a funk/soul band, and he functions brilliantly outside the confines of Zydeco… Alligator Records evidently thought that regrouping Dural and his former producer might ignite some lively music, and Berlin was brought in to supervise Lay Your Burden Down, Buckwheat Zydeco's label debut. The notion has paid off with a vastly entertaining and appealingly diverse package…. Bandleader Dural remains an ever-engaging vocalist and a whiz on any keyboard he touches. So, for Buckwheat Zydeco fans, Lay Your Burden Down finds the maestro and his group near the top of their form. For listeners with less interest in the ol' accordion get-down, the collection supplies enough interesting wrinkles to get the good times rolling."
Sonicboomers.com
"Dural has put together a collection of thoughtful, wide-ranging songs that may not have been originally intended for the accordion, but still come up pulsating with the Buckwheat spirit… they create a work of intense emotion, passion and hearty good times… It's a fine album, mixing Dural's multi-talented approach, thoughtful songwriting, and elegant production."
Pittsburg Post-Gazette
"Buckwheat Zydeco (Stanley Dural Jr.), (is) in terrific form on Lay Your Burden Down… Buckwheat Zydeco shines on accordion and vocals, and his tight band is superbly captured by producer Steve Berlin of Los Lobos."
Detroit Free Press
"Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr. and his namesake band are not just about zydeco, although that infectiously propulsive dance music of the singer-accordionist's native southern Louisiana is at the heart of just about everything the group does… Its new album, Lay Your Burden Down…(is) a richly substantive collection that faces up to hard times while conveying a joyous sense of resilience."
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural celebrates his 30th year as a zydeco trailblazer with a soulful bayou-steeped set of originals and covers by artists as diverse as Jimmy Cliff, Bruce Springsteen and Captain Beefheart."
USA Today