(This page was started by a devoted fan of Canray Fontenot whose life was deeply impacted by his music. In creating this page the goal is to keep the memory of Canray going and to help expose his wonderful music to the world. None of the music will be downloadable, but anyone with a myspace.com account can add it to their profile to show their support for spreading awareness of Canray's beautiful music and wonderful story.)
CANRAY FONTENOT (1922-1995)
Louisiana lost a great artist and a charismatic ambassador when Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot died July 29 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer and diabetes. Born in L'Anse aux Vaches on Oct. 23, 1922, Canray was a living bridge between turn-of-the-century musical styles and today's younger musicians. His father, `Nonc' Adam Fontenot, was a legendary accordion player and contemporary of Amédée Ardoin. Orphaned at a young age, Canray did manual labor all his life, yet traveled the world and won such prestigious awards as the National Heritage Award from the NEA.
Canray's unique style was bluesy, yet melodic. His wild slides and gravelly vocals were always accompanied by his mile-wide grin. Canray originals such as "Joe Pitre a deux femmes," "Les Barres de la prison" and "Bonsoir Moreau" have become standards in the Cajun and Zydeco repertoires.
He and his wife, Artile, raised six children, four of whom went to college and one of whom is a lawyer. Canray played and traveled to the end, teaching and performing with long-time partner Bois-Sec Ardoin at Port Townsend, Washington, shortly before he died.
One of my first recollections of Canray was trying to find his house out in the country near Welsh, Louisiana, in 1973. His instructions were, "Turn right on the first gravel road and go on a bit until you get to another one then take a left near Mr. Martell's, then take a right after you pass the oak tree that got hit by lightning then a left and then you'll see my house because it's the one that has only one tree in the front yard." Remembering Canray's directions was crucial since he didn't have a phone in his house until 1990. I can still remember the overwhelming warmth upon entering his home. That night, Canray played old Creole fiddle tunes, waltzes, mazurkas, stringband numbers, New Orleans jazz numbers, blues, original songs on fiddle, guitar, harmonica and jaw harp. Then he began singing unaccompanied ballads in French that sounded so ancient but so natural. He could make his fiddle cry, then he could make it laugh with trilling double stops!
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Canray's talent was how he could blend ancient French songs with his own creole rhythms to create his own recognizable style in new songs. For example, his "Bonsoir Moreau" was unusual to Louisiana French music in that it was played in a minor key. Canray played it effortlessly in third position with so much emotion, and the bluesy context of the song really set it apart. Humorous neighborhood stories like "Bee de la Manche" were put to music and told the story of how Bee resorts to stealing sheep and is eventually jailed, all because the widow Adelina is costing him a great deal of money.
Canray Fontenot, sitting in his favorite rocking chair with fiddle in hand, singing and tapping out the rhythms on his hardwood floor with his bare feet, smiling and passing on forgotten songs whose poetry he lived through. His life was not easy, but he expelled his troubles through his music, a gift which he shared with his neighbors and the world. We mourn not just the man and his talent, but a soulful eyewitness to our musical history.
His voice has left us, but his soulful songs remain to remind us of what his grandfather used to tell him: "If you remember my song, you'll remember me."
(Taken from Michael Doucet's interview with Arhoolie productions)
(This page was started by a devoted fan of Canray Fontenot whose life was deeply impacted by his music. In creating this page the goal is to keep the memory of Canray going and to help expose his wonderful music to the world. None of the music will be downloadable, but anyone with a myspace.com account can add it to their profile to show their support for spreading awareness of Canray's beautiful music and wonderful story.)
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