As the zydeco craze of the 1980s took off, Zydeco became one of its leading members.
Advertisement
The American accordionist Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr., who brought wider attention to the Creole musical styles of his native Louisiana through his band Buckwheat Zydeco, died on Saturday, his manager said.
Dural reached his arguable peak in the mid-’90s, when he performed at not just one, but two presidential inaugurations (both for Bill Clinton), and performed in front of a televised audience of billions as part of the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. Fallon played the guitar backed up by the Roots while Buckwheat Zydeco rocked the accordion.
Born in Lafayette, La., in 1947, Dural picked up the nickname of “Buckwheat” in his youth due to his resemblance to the Little Rascals character. His father was an amateur accordion player, but Dural preferred playing the organ as a child, according to a biography on his website.
Taking up the accordion, Dural formed a band of his own (formally known as the Ils Sont Partis Band, but usually just called Buckwheat Zydeco). In 1976 he joined legendary zydeco artist Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band as an organist, launching an important musical turn in his career. “We played for four hours and I wasn’t ready to quit”, he said in comments quoted in his obituary. “For others around the world, if they got into zydeco music, or felt its influence, or watched the world celebrate this great aspect of Louisiana culture over the past 30-plus years, it’s likely been because of Buckwheat Zydeco”. He performed with musicians as varied as Eric Clapton, Yo La Tengo and the Boston Pops. “To the end of his days with all the stuff that he’d done, all the awards, he was still the same Stanley Dural Jr. who was picking cotton when he was 5 years old”.
“You get out there, play good music and make people happy”, Dural told The Times. The term generally refers to the French-speaking Catholics expelled from Nova Scotia by the British during the 1700’s who eventually settled southwest Louisiana, although it’s often used to refer more generically to French-speaking people in the area regardless of where they’re from. He toured endlessly from the time he learned to love performing onstage.
Advertisement
Mr. Dural leaves his wife, Bernite, and five children. In August, Cynthia Simien, an agent and manager who is married to Zydeco musician Terrance Simien, and Dural’s daughter Tomorrow Dural started a GoFundMe account to defray Dural’s medical expenses.
