Amédé Ardoin | |
|---|---|
 Amédé Ardoin around 1912, on the occasion of hisConfirmation in theCatholic Church. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1898-03-11)March 11, 1898 nearBasile,Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 3, 1942(1942-11-03) (aged 44) Pineville, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Creole,zydeco |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter,accordionist |
| Instruments | Vocals,Cajun accordion |
| Labels | Columbia Records,[1]Brunswick,Vocalion,Decca,Melotone,Bluebird,Arhoolie,Tompkins Square |
Amédé Ardoin (March 11, 1898 – November 3, 1942)[2] was an American musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on German-made one-rowdiatonic button accordions.[3]
He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the groundwork in the early 20th century for bothCreole andCajun music.[4] He wrote several songs now regarded as Cajun andzydeco standards. His music and playing greatly inspired post-World War IICajun accordion makers such asMarc Savoy.[5]
Ardoin was born nearBasile inEvangeline Parish, Louisiana a descendant of both enslaved and free people. Ardoin spoke onlyCajun French and did not speak English, as was then common for most people inCajun Country. Developing his musical talents in preference to undertaking farm work, he played at dances, often for Cajun audiences, withfiddle players Alphonse LaFleur and Douglas Bellard. Adam Fontenot, father of fiddlerCanray Fontenot, was an early musical influence.[6] He moved around the area frequently, settling at one point nearChataignier, where he met Cajun fiddle playerDennis McGee. They established a more regular musical partnership, playing at localhouse parties, sometimes attended by Ardoin's young cousin,Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin.[7][8]
Ardoin and McGee were among the first artists to record the music of theAcadiana region ofLouisiana. On December 9, 1929, they recorded six songs forColumbia Records inNew Orleans.[9] They made further recordings together in New Orleans in 1930, and inSan Antonio, Texas, in August 1934. Ardoin also made solo recordings inNew York City in December 1934.[3] The recordings were issued on various labels, includingBrunswick,Vocalion,Decca,Melotone andBluebird.[8] In all, thirty-four recordings with Ardoin playing accordion are known to exist.
His recordings and performances became popular throughout southern Louisiana. In the late 1930s, he played regularly inEunice, Louisiana with fiddle playerSady Courville, but the two did not record together.[7] Ardoin's music combined "European song forms and African rhythmic approaches such as swing and syncopation... [He] personified this cultural blend and enhanced its development through his deft technique and his ability to improvise. Ardoin was a lively, inventive accordionist who could keep a crowd dancing while playing alone. He was also a soulful singer whose emotional style made dramatic use of elongated, high-pitched notes."[8]
The circumstances that led to Ardoin's death, and the final cause of his death, were uncertain for many years. Contemporaries said that Ardoin suffered from impaired mental and musical capacities later in his life.
Descendants of family members and musicians who knew Ardoin claimed a story, now well-known, that he was severely beaten in a racially motivated attack in about 1939. He was walking home after playing at a house dance near Eunice. The common story said that some white men were angered when a white woman, daughter of the house, lent her handkerchief to Ardoin to wipe the sweat from his face.[8][10] Ardoin seems never to have fully mentally recovered from this attack.[11]
According to musiciansCanray Fontenot andWade Frugé, inPBS'sAmerican Patchwork, claimed that as Ardoin was leaving Eunice, he was run over by aModel A car which crushed his head and throat, damaging his vocal cords. They said he was found the next day, lying in a ditch.
Studies have concluded that he died as a result of avenereal disease.[7][better source needed] At the end of his life he was cared for in an asylum inPineville, Louisiana, where he was admitted in September 1942. He died at the hospital two months later. He was buried in the hospital's common grave.[3][12]
The 31 songs recorded by Ardoin have become "an important part of the core repertoire of Cajun and Creole music." Both his accordion playing and vocals have been stylistically influential in Cajun music and zydeco.[6]
Along with bandmates like Dennis McGee, Ardoin "crossed the musical color line" in theJim Crow South, earning the admiration of listeners of both races and creating temporary social spaces where cultural interchange could take place.[11] Anthropologist Sara Le Menestrel notes, "Ardoin is now considered the father of French music by most local musicians, no matter which subcategory of music [i.e., Cajun or Creole] they identify with."[13]
On March 11, 2018, a life-sized statue of Ardoin was unveiled at theSt. Landry Parish Visitor Center. It was based on a well-known photo of him[14] when he received theCatholic sacrament ofConfirmation.[15] The statue project was headed by Darrell Bourque, a professor and Louisiana's former Poet Laureate. His book of poetry titled 'If You Abandon Me: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook', features a cover with artwork by Pierre Bourque.
A Creole prodigy who traveled the countryside playing his bluesy two-steps and waltzes, he changed Cajun music and laid down the roots for zydeco. At his death at the age of 44 in 1942, he was Case No.13387 in the state psychiatric hospital, destined for an anonymous burial.
I was very familiar with Amédé's music because I would spend hours winding up the crank on my grandmother's Victrola playing her 78's. Also, my father would tell me stories about how he had known Amédé very well and had once hired him to play for a house party in our kitchen before I was born.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)A life-size statue honoring slain musician Amédé Ardoin was unveiled Sunday at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, located at Interstate 49 exit 23 in Opelousas.
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