Ma négresse

A great Cajun classic by one of the great figures in Cajun music, Nathan Abshire (1913-1981). I had this LP long ago, when I haunted Arhoolie in Berkeley. Is it still there? Just seeing the cover brings happy memories. Cajun music runs in families - there were generations of Abshires, Fontenots, LeJeunes and probably still are today. It figures, this is homegrown music, not particularly commercial. Once I met an oil executive on business and would you believe, he was related and knew most of them well. Amazing karma, as this happened in a bar in a small town in Australia, thousands of miles from anywhere and we're talking things no one else knows. It was 30 years ago. Who was more shocked, him or me? Incidentally, country and western music is huge in Australia among Aboriginals in the interior.

An excellent blog I follow is about Mauritius (but also lots on music and Romania and the Bucharest Festival) a place after my heart where many cultures and genres mix.