Festivals Acadiens et Créoles presents a monthly series called the Legacy Series. This is a monlty event that will honor and celebrate local legends. These are legends who have contributed to the Acadiana heritage and culture.
This month, the series will honor Iry Lejeune. Iry Lejeune was a legendary Cajun musician from Church Point, Louisiana. His music paved the way for many musicians of today.
The Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Legacy Series is free to attend. It will take place at Feed & Seed on Thursday, November 3rd from 7 pm to 9 pm in Downtown Lafayette. (106 North Grant St., Lafayette, LA 70501)
The musical guests that will be attending include Ellis and Orsy Vanicor, the original members of the Lacassine Playboys, Wade Falcon, Bubba Hebert, and Chris Miller.
The goal is to create a community event series that honors historical, contemporary, and future cultural traditions.
History of Iry Lejeunce from Festival Acdiens et Creoles:
“The Legacy of Iry Lejeune (1928-1955) Iry Lejeune was one of the most influential musicians in contemporary Cajun music. He was born in Pointe Noire, near Church Point, LA. He came from a musical family, including Angelas, Rodney, Vinesse, Eddie, Homer, and Felton Lejeune.
Iry was nearly blind and thus had a hard time getting regular employment. Music allowed him to support his family, with whom he lived in his adopted hometown of Lacassine. He was a prolific composer, adapting many songs from the earlier repertoire of Amédé Ardoin.
In his teens, when World War II ended, he led the return of the diatonic accordion and French lyrics in Cajun music, which had dropped the instrument and the French language in favor of western swing and country music and English lyrics during the Americanization of the 1930s.
In 1948, young Iry went with Virgil Bozman’s Oklahoma Tornadoes to Houston to record “Love Bridge Waltz” and “Evangeline Special” for Opera Records in French and in a style that harked back to the traditional sounds of earlier in the century. The record was surprisingly popular, especially among Cajuns, who were increasingly concerned about drifting away from their cultural and linguistic heritage.
He recorded his subsequent records with Eddie Shuler of Goldband Records of Lake Charles, Louisiana. He was a poetic lyricist, a soulful vocalist, and a virtuoso accordionist, easily among the most imitated in Cajun music.”
SOURCE: Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Legacy Series/Joelle Polisky