Bayou bash
Star-Bulletin
with BeauSoleilCajun dance band BeauSoleil returns to Honolulu with its spicy blend of bayou music at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Andrews Amphitheatre.
BeauSoleil last performed in Honolulu in 1997. The band's current CD is "Cajunization" in which the musicians extend musical boundaries to the Pacific, performing two Hawaiian-inspired songs. "Les Nuits Maui" (Maui Nights) evolved out of a Hawaiian guitar tuning and was inspired by a 1936 Cajun recording entitled "Rendezvous in Honolulu" and "Atchafalaya Pipeline," is a Cajun surf song. Someone even giggles "Wipe-out!" as the recording fades.
"Cajunization" features dense, interlaced ensemble work by BeauSoleil's musicians, tied together by leader Michael Doucet's fiddle work. Some pieces are playful and marked by '20s jazz influences, such as "Cubano Bayou," a '50s lounge groove in "L'Amour Poisonne," or take a weepy Appalachian approach, such as the stunning "Chanson pour Tommy," the album's centerpiece suite.
For the first time, all of the vocals are in bayou French, as are the lyrics. (They're translated in the CD booklet, however.)
BeauSoleil's lineup includes lead vocalist and fiddler Doucet; vocalist and guitarist David Doucet; Jimmy Breaux on Acadian accordion; Al Tharp playing bass and banjo; Billy Ware, percussionist; and Tommy Alesi on drums.
Tickets are $16 general; $13 students/seniors. For reservation call 956-3836. Krauss Hall will serve as the box office the evening of the concert, opening at 5 p.m. Only cash or checks will be accepted.
Gates to Andrews will open at 5:30 p.m. Alcohol will not be allowed; low beach chairs and small coolers only.
The group will also perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday on the Luau Lawn at the Manele Bay Hotel on Lanai. For reservations call 1-(800)-321-4666.
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