Dancing to Zydeco band Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys

My wife and I attended a Zydeco dance at the First Durham Music and Dance Festival. I loved my first exposure to Zydeco music on April 25, 1997 at the fabulous annual (pre-Hurricane Katrina) New Orleans Jazz Festival. We went early for Zydeco lessons and then enjoyed dancing to the music of Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, as well as watching the musicians. I'm not good at learning dance steps, but we had a very nice time. I found, by the way, a good Zydeco and Cajun site from my alma mater, including online dance steps.

Morris Ledet, Rosie's husband, was on bass; Lanice Ledet was on rubboard; Kent August played guitar (or was it another guitarist?); and a young man, perhaps Morris and Rosie's son, Lukey Ledet played drums. From the Festival web site:

MARY ROSEZLA BELLARD LEDET, born in rural Church Point, Louisiana, learned to play the accordion by watching her husband play and then practiced on his accordion while he worked during the day.

Since rising to the front of her husband's Zydeco band, Rosie has been performing steadily throughout the Louisiana-Texas Zydeco circuit, as well as playing from one coast to the other. Last year she appeared at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, St Louis Blues Festival, Frog Island Festival and others across the country.

Rosie plays more of the traditional style Cajun and Zydeco music, and she composes her own songs. It's been said that Zydeco is 'blues with an accent', and Rosie adds a touch of blues and Creole French to her songs. Rosie and her band have quickly become the act to watch on the zydeco circuit. She scored the #1 song on KVOL with I'm Gonna Take Care Of Your Dog, and won three Best Of The Best awards from Offbeat Magazine, including Best Zydeco Band or Performer, Best New Zydeco Group or Performer, and Best Vocalist.

One of a small handful of women in Zydeco, Rosie has been enjoying year after year of success. Her warm stage presence combined with the infectious Zydeco beat, makes her irresistible to audiences. She also is one of the few younger Zydeco players who still writes and sings some of her own material in Creole French.