Chuck and Albert Give 'Anne of Green Gables' Competition -- With Lost Acadian Tunes
- Posted on Nov 17th 2009 2:00PM by Steve Hochman
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Eastern Canada's Prince Edward Island is generally known internationally for three things: 1) as the setting for native daughter L.M. Montgomery's enduringly popular 'Anne of Green Gables' books; 2) as the source for some of the tastiest mussels gracing menus all over; and 3) and as -- along with neighboring Nova Scotia -- a place that all the French Acadians, the descendents of the original 17th-century colonists, left when the English and Scots booted them out 250 years ago, many migrating to Louisiana where they became known as the Cajuns.About that last one ... Not all the Acadians left. The two musicians who make up PEI-based folk duo Chuck and Albert know of a couple descendants from the original Acadians who are still there: Chuck & Albert.
It's that lineage that the pair celebrates on their new album, 'Énergie.' Energetic it is -- C&E are known for their upbeat, playful and even comic approach to folk traditions. But with this collection there's a commitment to the cultural roots. One song, 'À la Claire Fontaine,' is traced back 400 years, arriving in North America with the original Acadians:





It's a dream match: The creamy, husky voice of Cape Verdean singer
"I'm now enchanted with life -- and have forgotten about death."
In 2005, ethnomusicologist
Call it the revenge of the band geeks.
OK, so it's not
Baaba Maal





