Louis Michot & Leyla McCalla

Südstaaten-Grooves auf Französisch With fiddle, cello, banjo and voice, Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla present one of the oldest folk traditions in the United States: French-language songs and dances from Louisiana. Situated on the Gulf of Mexico, the southern state has long been shaped by its French heritage and francophone communities. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla, a long-time musical collaborator of Rhiannon Giddens, is dedicated to preserving the traditions of these communities in Louisiana. Together with Louis Michot, she explores the music of Creole, Cajun and Haitian cultures – spirited, danceable melodies influenced by the sounds of the American South, yet retaining a character all their own. Louisiana remains the most distinctly French-influenced of all US states. Named after King Louis XIV of France, traces of its French past can still be found throughout the region, from the bayous of the Mississippi Delta to the coastal city of New Orleans. Louisiana is also home to a significant francophone population. It includes Creoles, descendants of enslaved people and migrants who arrived from former French colonies in the Caribbean, such as Haiti, as well as Cajuns, descendants of French settlers who were expelled from Acadia by the British in the mid-18th century and eventually settled in Louisiana. It is these two cultural traditions that Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla bring together in this programme. Michot performs on instruments associated with traditional bayou music and is the lead singer of the Grammy-winning band Lost Bayou Ramblers. McCalla plays cello, tenor banjo and guitar, and sings in several languages. Together with Rhiannon Giddens, she co-founded the group Our Native Daughters and previously performed alongside her in the celebrated old-time band Carolina Chocolate Drops.