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Lafayette become "Little Easy"

Houston Chroncle:

The fiddler — eyes closed, bow gliding the peaks of a Cajun waltz for gray-haired couples on the dance floor — is far from New Orleans tonight, though he's in the same spot as many of the city's musicians.

His heart is in the Big Easy, mother of jazz, where rhythms hum in the neon, tap on the sidewalk, waft from windows like bar smoke. But since Hurricane Katrina, his music is anywhere someone will listen.

Right now, for Jonno Frishberg and many other New Orleans musicians, that place is Lafayette, the citified heart of Cajun Country that's competing with other musical hubs to become the keeper of New Orleans' scattered soul.

Lafayette, about 135 miles west of New Orleans, has always shared a cultural kinship with its soulful sister across the swamp. It's got a simmering music scene of authentic Cajun, Zydeco and "swamp pop," which sounds a lot like New Orleans R&B with a Cajun accent.

Now, Lafayette club owners and local musicians' advocates are trying to bring that scene to a boil by attracting displaced musicians who have settled in the Acadiana area and luring back those who have already fled to bigger venues.

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It could thicken the gumbo, as Lafayette saxophonist Dickey Landry has become fond of saying, "especially if it sits overnight in the refrigerator."

"There's some New Orleans musicians I've talked to who are excited about the possibilities here," Frishberg says. "And there's others who say, 'Oh, I'm headed to Austin. Forget it. You can't do it here.' But I don't know. I've seen a lot of growth in Lafayette artistically. ... Why couldn't this be a boon for that?"

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