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A queen and two brothers bring
the infectious rhythms of Zydeco
and Western Soul to the Santa
Monica Pier during a free concert
Thursday night.
The First Lady of Louisiana
music, Queen Ida Guillory blends
into her Creole traditions blues,
Cajun and Caribbean influences.
The Grammy winning Queen Ida
is the first female accordion
player to lead her own Zydeco
band and has toured all over
the world as an ambassador for
Creole culture.
Every show performed by Queen
Ida is a celebration. Born in
Creole country in Lake Charles,
Louisiana, Ida Guillory grew
up learning the lullabies and
Mardi Gras songs of the primarily
French-speaking community.
After marrying and moving to
San Francisco, she put aside
the accordion to raise a family
and drove a school bus for a
living. As her children grew
she started sitting in with
her brother Al Rapone’s
band for a few performances.
A writer for the San Francisco
Chronicle who was covering one
such event dubbed her "Queen
Ida", and she became the
first female accordion player
to lead a zydeco band.
Since then she has won a Grammy,
toured throughout the United
States as well as Japan, Africa,
Australia and New Zealand; and
appeared in numerous television
shows and the feature film Rumblefish.
She favors a 31-button accordion
and is noted for her melodic,
treble-based playing. Though
grounded in Creole traditions,
her music has Cajun, Caribbean
and Blues influences.
The Hacienda Brothers, led
by cult heroes Chris Gaffney
and Dave Gonzalez, introduced
their wood-smoked blend of stone
country and old-school R&B
on their self-titled 2005 debut
album, helmed by legendary writer/producer
Dan Penn.
The record was made in Tucson,
where both of the principals,
who now reside in Southern California,
have roots, so people took to
describing thegroup’s
sound as “Western Soul.”
The Santa Monica Pier is located
at the intersection of Colorado
Avenue and Ocean Avenue in Santa
Monica. The Pier strongly recommends
walking, biking and using mass
transit to get to the concerts
as parking near the Pier is
limited. The concerts will offer
free valet bike parking to our
patrons at the western entrance
to the shows.
For those who insist on driving,
parking is available in beach
parking lots located at 2030
Barnard Way and 1550 PCH, both
accessible off Ocean Avenue
south of the Pier. The 2030
lot is a short walk up the beach
path from the Pier.
For bus information, please
visit www.bigbluebus.com and
www.MTA.net or call 310-451-5444.
For more information about
the concerts, visit www.twilightdance.org
or call the Pier information
line at 310-458-8900.
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