Musicians collaborate for Jazz Fest

SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN PRESS

Lafayette's globe-trotting Cajun band, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, will be back on familiar ground when their "2001: A Cajun Space Odyssey" tour lands on the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans today for the opening of the 2001 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

The Grammy Award-winning band known for its dance-inducing performances of new and traditional Acadian French tunes, celebrated its 25th anniversary with January's release of "Looking Back Tomorrow: BeauSoleil Live!" The party continues today, April 27, with special guests at 4:05 p.m. on the Sprint PCS/PG stage.

BeauSoleil are world-renowned ambassadors for the infectious yet mournful sound of the Cajun nation-in-exile, singing their history in the heavily idiomatic Cajun French language but playing the explicitly modern and diverse styles of an evolving and living tradition.

For their appearance at Jazzfest, the sextet will kick it up a notch with the addition of preeminent English acoustic and electric guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson.

Thompson, who invented a modern traditionalist musical fusion for his often-imitated 1960s folk/rock band, Fairport Convention, is described as "a musician's musician," praised by such luminous peers as Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed and John Cougar Mellencamp, as well as R.E.M. and David Byrne, who appeared on one of two Thompson tribute albums.

Since Fairport he's worked in every type of musical collaboration — from an early 1980s award-winning duo with ex-wife Linda Thompson to a promising duet with his (and Linda's) son Teddy Thompson at the fin de siecle. In between he's fronted small and large bands featuring a who's who in eclectic folk, jazz and rock.

The Michael Doucet-Richard Thompson connection is long-standing, Doucet said from his home last week. He recalls hearing Fairport's 1968 album, "Unhalfbricking," and wondering "who this guy was who was playing a song called 'Cajun Woman' and how come I didn't know him?" The pair eventually met, discovered a mutual love for the authentic sounds of musicians steeped in their own cultures and traditions, and were soon playing music together, both on and offstage.

"When Richard's around we play music all day long," Doucet said. "He's always carrying around a guitar, and he's like a musical encyclo-pedia. We might play anything at all — from a Django Reinhardt gypsy jazz number to The Ventures' 'Sleepwalk.'" Thompson's also collaborated with Doucet and BeauSoleil in the studio, performing on their Grammy hit, "L'Amour ou la Folie" and other projects.

But though he's played with a list of musicians that stretches to 13 pages on a fan's Web site, Thompson describes himself as a "reluctant collaborator," at least as a songwriter. "I'm always worried that it's not going to work," he confessed recently. "How will I get into that person's mind? How can they get into mine?"

Despite reservations, Thompson collaborated successfully with Crowded House's Tim Finn on "Persuasion," a standout on his recent Capitol release and a feature of recent gigs with Teddy. Last month when Teddy couldn't make a Los Angeles show, Thompson collaborated with his youngest daughter, Kamila.

Before today's late-afternoon collaboration with BeauSoleil, Thompson will feature songs from his recently released "Action Packed: The Best of the Capitol Years" in a solo performance at 1:20 p.m. on the Sprint PCS/PG stage.

Summing up their plans for Jazzfest, Doucet explained why today's collaboration will occur essentially unrehearsed: "A musical collaboration is a lot like putting together the ingredients for gumbo or an etouffee. You go by instinct and feeling. Everybody who's playing with BeauSoleil today is an incredible musician and a very good friend, so we have the right elements for wonderful things. There will certainly be some surprises."

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is April 27-29 and May 3-6. The Louisiana Heritage Fair is 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Fair Grounds Race Course. Tickets are $15 in advance of each weekend at Ticketmaster and $1.50 for children under 12. Tickets at the gate are $20 for adults and $2 for children. Tickets starting at $25 for the evening concerts are also on sale at Ticketmaster; prices and locations of concerts vary.

Destination Management offers special packages for individuals and groups. For information, call 1-800-380-FEST or fax (504) 592-0529.

New Orleans Tours operates the Jazz Fest Express which offers continuous round-trip service from the Harrah's New Orleans Casino Parking Garage (601 Convention Center Blvd.), major downtown hotels, Marconi Meadows in City Park and other locations to the Fair Grounds Race Course from 10:45 am to 8:00 pm. Tickets cost $10 for round-trip transportation. To purchase Jazz Fest Express tickets, call 1-888-670-4638 or look for the New Orleans Tours desk in major downtown hotels.

For more festival information, visit the Web site at www.nojazzfest.com.

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