zydeco

noun. zy·​de·​co ˈzī-də-ˌkō often attributive. : popular music of southern Louisiana that combines tunes of French origin with elements of Caribbean music and the blues and that features guitar, washboard, and accordion.

The word Zydeco gets its name from a colloquial Creole French expression “Les haricots ne sont pas salés” meaning “the snap beans aren't salty” or idiomatically for “the times are hard.” Like the blues, early zydeco offered a way for the rural poor both to express and to escape the hardships of life through music and ...

It has French, Spanish, African, and Caribbean influences. The music is played on accordions and fiddles by Creole people. It has evolved over time to include elements of blues, jazz, and rock 'n roll as well. In the mid-1900s, zydeco musicians began incorporating electric guitar and drums into their music.

Zydeco (/ˈzaɪdɪˌkoʊ/ ZY-dih-koh or /ˈzaɪdiˌkoʊ/ ZY-dee-koh, French: Zarico) as a dance style has its roots in a form of folk dance that corresponds to the heavily syncopated zydeco music, originated in the beginning of the 20th century among the Francophone Creole peoples of Acadiana (south-west Louisiana).

Zydeco music draws from many forms of folk and popular music, including traditional blues, French Creole music, R&B, gospel, jazz, and Native American music. It incorporates musical instruments from these styles to create an ensemble that is unique to zydeco music.

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier on accordion, brother Cleveland on washboard and John Hart on tenor saxophone. Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S. He was known as the King of Zydeco, and also billed as the King of the South.

When Haitian immigrants came to Louisiana, they added their own unique beats to the style that would become zydeco. This new sound was also shaped by American Indians as well as French and Spanish immigrants. The word "zydeco" came from the French phrase: Les haricots ne sont pas sales wrong.

Due to the limitations of the accordion, which can only be played in the key of its making, most Cajun and zydeco songs are in a major key (mostly C and D, sometimes G and A), and have very simple chord progressions (I-IV-V).

The lively rhythms of Zydeco music are built upon the foundation of the accordion, which is a critical instrument in the genre, combined with African-Caribbean and French influences that create a distinct and irresistible sound.

Similar to the music of the Cajuns (displaced French Canadians who settled in Louisiana), zydeco was created by the Creoles (those of African heritage in Louisianan French culture). Its name is thought to come from a modified pronunciation of the French phrase les haricots (“the beans”) heard in a popular song.

CLIFTON CHENIER (1925 – 1987) indirectly penned the name of the zydeco genre with his song "Zydeco Sont Pas Sales." The song title is a variant of les haricots son pas sale, which in French translates to “the snap beans are not salty.” It is a metaphor for people being impoverished to the point of not having meat to ...

Zydeco (pronounced ZY-duh-coe) is the exuberant dance music of Creoles in southwest Louisiana. It is a rich hybrid, based on core Afro-Caribbean rhythms and song forms such as juré singing, African-American blues and rhythm & blues, and Cajun music.