Ben Sandmel

Sep 1, 2024 | 64parishes.org | Ben Sandmel |Alexandra Kennon Shahin

The present robust popularity of Cajun and Creole music, zydeco, and swamp pop belies the fact that, until fifty years ago, these interconnected genres were often scorned, excoriated, and marginalized. In 1974 French-speaking Louisianans had endured a half-century of linguistic and cultural disrespect exerted by aggressive governmental campaigns of forced assimilation. Between 1916 and 1921 the Louisiana legislature enacted laws forbidding children to speak French in the state’s public schools.

Aug 31, 2023 | 64parishes.org | Ben Sandmel |Chris Turner-Neal

I can’t imagine doing anything else,” bassist Lee Allen Zeno reflected. “I was so young when I got started. Music’s been a part of me for my whole life.” Zeno’s repertoire combines the related sounds of zydeco, blues, rhythm & blues, ’60s soul, and ’70s funk, along with forays into Cajun music, reggae, country, rock, and jazz. Zeno creates deft, imaginative bass lines that rise above routine, simplistic patterns.