Heir of the Zydeco throne, Sir Reginald M. Dural (otherwise known as Buckwheat Zydeco Jr.), will make his way to Tucson this week, showcasing a distinctive Creole sound.
On Friday, Feb. 3, Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. and the Ils Sont Partis Band will perform on the Hotel Congress Plaza. The musician from Lafayette, Louisiana, has fond memories of playing in Tucson with his father years prior.
“We did a lot of outdoor festivals (in Tucson) and every time we played out there it was really nice and it was always a beautiful crowd. There were a lot of supporters for my father there, when he was living, every time we came through,” Zydeco Jr. said.
Buckwheat Zydeco Sr. (birth name: Stanley Dural Jr.) passed away in 2016 and his son has been keeping the zydeco spirit alive ever since by continuing to make, play and record new music.
Zydeco music is a distinctive style of Louisianan Creole music that blends together multiple genres of southwestern Louisiana music into something wholly original.
“It’s Creole and French speaking music played with an accordion and a washtub. It’s one-of-a-kind music; happy music,” Zydeco Jr. said.
Zydeco Sr. was initially introduced to Zydeco music by Clifton Chenior, who was a prominent Zydeco musician in Louisiana and, at one point, was neighbors with the Dural household, Zydeco Jr. said.
“The neighborhood was full of musicians and I couldn’t help but pick it up,” Zydeco Jr. said.
He grew up playing music with his father, going on to play in his father’s band when he graduated high school.
“Right out of high school I began touring around with my father,” Zydeco Jr. said.
The father and son have played alongside many notable musicians, including Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Keith Richards and Robert Plant, just to name a few.
Zydeco Jr. continues to play and record new Zydeco music with the same group of musicians he and his father played with.
His February mini tour of the U.S. will make stops in Tucson and Chandler before looping back east and returning to cities in Louisiana and Florida just in time for Mardi Gras season.
“This type of music has really taken me all around the world, me and my father you know? Yeah, it’s truly a blessing,” Zydeco Jr. said.
Zydeco Jr. also said he’s currently putting the final touches on his upcoming album that “should be finished by the time we come out towards you.”
The show, at 311 E. Congress Street, is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $28.33 through tucne.ws/1mhc.
This Day in History:, New Orleanians Take to the Streets for Mardi Gras. February 27, 1827. Groups of masked students danced in the streets, marking the beginnings of the city's Mardi Gras celebrations. The Mardi Gras celebration was brought to the region by French settlers towards the end of the 1600s. By the time students in New Orleans danced in the streets in costumes and masks. the celebration of Carnival had been popular in Mobile, AL, for more than 100 years. The New Orleans student celebrations were inspired by their Paris studies. Within five years, a French plantation owner had begun raising money to fund the celebration. The first fully organized Mardi Gras occurred in 1857
