PRESENTING
MUSIQUE(S)!
RELEASED
MAY 7
2025
A CONTEMPORARY ANTHOLOGY
OF LOUISIANA MUSIC IN
FRENCH AND CREOLE*
* PRESENTED WITH THE SUPPPORT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
2 GRAMMY AWARD MUSICIANS
4 MUSICIAN ENSEMBLES
28 ARTISTS
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Louis Michot is best known as the fiddle player and lead singer for the Grammy-award-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers. He is passionate about Louisiana French and local folklore, and about sustainability in the fastest disappearing landmass in the world. With over 20 LPs to his name, his music career continues to push the boundaries of the Louisiana French music traditions.
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Leyla McCalla was born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, and her music draws inspiration from the past and present: three centuries of history and contemporary influences from around the globe. McCalla is a master of the cello, tenor banjo, and guitar, as well as a multilingual singer and songwriter.A contemporary string ensemble exploring the Creole diaspora through melody and memory to honor Afro-descendent cultural ancestors and preserve the plurality of their experiences through a prismatic and contemporary lens.
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The New Orleans Baby Dolls tradition emerged around 1912 in the segregated red-light district of Black Storyville, as women of color challenged societal norms by parading during Mardi Gras in doll-like attire, expressing their identities and challenging taboos. Today, there are multiple groups of Baby Dolls who continue to participate in Mardi Gras and other events.
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‘Sunpie’ is a renowned musician, ethnographic photographer, actor, author, and former pro football player (Kansas City Chiefs) — and current Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bones Gang Mardi Gras group. Performing will fellow Louisiana Creole-singing musician, Leroy Etienne, Sunpie is one of New Orleans’s most beloved cultural advocates.
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A contemporary string ensemble exploring the Creole diaspora through melody and memory to honor Afro-descendent cultural ancestors and preserve the plurality of their experiences through a prismatic and contemporary lens.
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Sweet Crude are an indie pop and rock band formed in 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The lyrics of their songs combine English and Louisiana French, a variety of French spoken by members of singers’ Sam Chachere Craft and Alexis Marceaux’s families. The band released their debut album, Créatures, early in 2017, and have garnered a worldwide fan base.
A MUSICAL ANTHOLOGY TO CELEBRATE WHO WE ARE.
EN MUSIQUE(S).
In August 2024, with the support of the Library of Congress, we invited two Grammy-winning musicians & four musical ensembles from Louisiana — for a total of 28 artists — to record an original album to document their musical practices and show how they perpetuate a centuries-long tradition of music sung in French and Creole.
This project, named Musique(s), resulted in the publication of an album (12 tracks) and a book (118 pages) released on May 7, 2025, and available for purchase online and at our gallery at 602 Toulouse St, in the French Quarter. Both the book and album are archived in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress for their significance in documenting Louisiana music as it is performed today.
Musique(s) also resulted in the production of a short documentary film (presented at the New Orleans French Film Festival on March 16, 2025) and the presentation of an exhibition (May 7 - June 30, 2025).
L’ALBUM
$25.00
12 tracks
37’40
6 interviews
Song Lyrics
118 pages
8.5x11.5
LE LIVRE
$25.00
LE FILM
Streaming Coming Soon
Short Doc
20 minutes
602 Toulouse St
May 7-June 30
Tuesday-Friday
10:00 12:30
2:00 4:30
L’EXPOSITION
Free!
POWERED BY NOUS
Nous is the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures' independent recording label and publishing house. This project was produced by Rudy Bazenet and Scott Tilton, with Katya Vaz and Autumn Palen as artistic directors. Cory St. Ewart directed our short documentary film.
Cover Art by Katya Vaz featuring a close-up cross-section of a bald cypress tree’s rings. This tree symbolizes not only resilience and adaptability but also strength. The outward motion of the rings mirrors the flow of sound waves, linking the concept of growth to music. Together, these elements reflect the enduring and evolving nature of both Louisiana’s music and our collective creativity.
Merci to our partners:
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Louisiana Office of Cultural Development
Gauthier Family Foundation
James Douglas Hislop
Denise & Jerry St Pierre
CreateLouisiana
TV5Monde
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Louisiana Office of Cultural Development Gauthier Family Foundation James Douglas Hislop Denise & Jerry St Pierre CreateLouisiana TV5Monde
Video
Excerpts from Musique(s)!, Le Film (2025)