Zydeco Crossroads: A Tale of Two Cities

Zelman worked with executives Roger LaMay and Bruce Warren of Philadelphia public radio station WXPN and their "World Cafe" host and producer David Dye to document and assist WXPN's exploration of the Creole culture of Southwest Louisiana through its yearlong Zydeco Crossroads project. The film portion of the project documented concerts by zydeco artists C.J. Chenier and Rosie Ledet in the Philadelphia area and followed XPN staff to Lafayette, Louisiana where concerts were staged featuring additional top zydeco artists Buckwheat Zydeco, Nathan Williams, Chubby Carrier, Rockin' Dopsie, Jr., Major Handy, Creole United, Soul Creole, Lil' Nate Williams, Chris Ardoin, and Corey Arceneaux, along with collaborating Mississippi blues artist Vasti Jackson. Also documented were David Dye's interviews with most of the key performing artists and with zydeco club owner Sid Williams, zydeco historian Michael Tisserand, and zydeco deejay Herman Fuselier of Lafayette public radio station KRVS. These interviews examine the history of music created by Southwest Louisiana Creoles, who are generally defined as people of mixed African, French, Spanish, and Native American descent, but especially African and French. Also discussed are the musical families who, generation after generation, play a dominant role in preserving and updating Creole musical traditions; the differences between earlier fiddle-and-accordion-driven 'French' or 'La La' music and later accordion-and-rubboard-driven zydeco; and the influence of Mississippi blues on both traditional Creole music and contemporary zydeco. The project has resulted in an 87-minute film titled ZYDECO CROSSROADS: A TALE OF TWO CITIES which also serves as an update of Robert Mugge's 1994 film THE KINGDOM OF ZYDECO. The film's dialogue is English, while the song lyrics are a mix of English and French patois with English summaries provided where necessary.