Grand Mamou - Cajun and Ceilidh Music

Although we are best known for playing Cajun music, the band also plays music from The British Isles, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. We play mainly for dancing and have done Cajun dance workshops with local dancers Wendy Pearce and Carey Powell. We also play for ceilidhs and barn dances all over East Anglia and work with a number of local barn dance callers including Jem Hill, Phil Smith and Faith Porter.

We've played at folk festivals in Ely, Felixstowe, Walton, Saffron Walden and Snape Maltings, and also in pubs and restaurants - often as an accomaniment to Cajun food nights.

Cajun music is the music of the French speaking inhabitants of Louisiana in the south of the USA. The principal instruments are the fiddle and the Cajun accordeon which is a close relative of the melodeon.

The Cajun accordeon is a single row instrument, normally with four stops and 10 keys. They are normally tuned either in C or D but, as Cajun music is modal, a tune played on a D box will be in A and a tune played on a C box will be in G. In the band Pete Rout plays both C and D boxes made by Mark Savoy in Louisiana.

There are two basic types of Cajun tune, the two step (in 2/4) and the waltz (in 3/4), both danced by couples. At its simplest, the two step is a fairly basic couple dance with a characeristic "limping" step but in recent years the moves performed by Cajun dancers have become increasingly complex and elaborate, not unlike a 1950's jive.

The fiddle is usually tuned as normal (GDAE) but sometimes, especially if two fiddles are playing together or if the accordeon player is playing in C, the fiddle can be tuned down a whole tone (FCGD). In the band, Vicky Moss uses two fiddles, one in standard tuning and one tuned down a tone.

At its simplest, Cajun music is accompanied by an acoustic guitar played with a strong rhythmic style featuring alternating bass notes and chords. A triangle is also traditionally used for accompaniment as is the rub board, a kind of metallic washboard worn on the chest and played with spoons or thimbles. The rub board is also used extensivley in Cajun's close relative, Zydeco which is a bluesier form of the music.

In recent years, electric guitars, bass, steel guitars and kit drums have become common in Cajun bands.

For more on Cajun music see Pete's article BON TEMPS ROULER – A PERSONAL DISCOVERY OF CAJUN MUSIC.

Ceilidhs and barn dances

Jigs, reels, schottishes, hornpipes... we play them all. Our tastes are eclectic and a good tune is a good tune, regardless of where it comes from! Our repertoire includes tunes from England (especially East Anglia), Ireland and Scotland. We also play music from Sweden, Finland and Transylvania, and have recently been learning some kletzmer tunes. As well as playing traditional dance tunes, we write our own using traditional forms as a starting point. We sing occasionally but generally prefer the tunes to do the talking...

Instrumentation is basically acoustic although we do use electric bass and guitars. We use amplifiers and PA equipment but only to balance the instruments and be heard at the back - we'd rather rely on the energy from the tunes rather than sheer volume to get people dancing!

We always work with a caller for barn dances and we like to keep the dances simple so that everyone can enjoy themselves - the emphasis is on having FUN!