From the moment I entered the Inter-Media Arts Center on this
rather mild winter evening, I knew something special was about
to happen. The lobby of the five hundred seat theater was packed
with people holding tickets and those desiring to have them.
Once again, Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr. has sold
out the popular Long Island venue. Sitting in the audience and
walking through the lobby, which on this night also featured
a wonderful hot buffet of authentic Creole food for the modest
price of $10.00 per plate, I heard a few people remark that
they had never seen Buckwheat Zydeco before but they’ve
heard about zydeco music. They came along with the pilgrims
to discover first hand what zydeco is all about. And tonight,
Mr. Dural could have been the “Pope of Zydeco” because
the musical mass began with the first notes of his trademark
entrance “Soul Serenade” and it didn’t let
up until several encores later.
The
show began with a solo performance by Buck’s Il Sont Parte
Band featuring Curtis Watson on the trumpet out in front. The
nucleus of the band this evening consisted of Reginal Dural
on rubboard, Lee Zeno on bass, and Paul Senegal on guitar. Watson
got the crowd going then handed off to Zeno for the traditional
introduction and then out comes Buckwheat all smiles and clearly
taken with the energy of the audience that is already up on
their feet. What kind of energy does Buckwheat have if he’s
opening the show with an extended version of “Hot Tamale
Baby”? Boundless energy! He brings the audience to a fever
pitch and then he turns into “The Pied Piper of Zydeco”
bringing a group of children sitting in the second row up onto
the stage to join him in a chorus of “Hey Good Looking.”
The audience still hasn’t sat down. And why should they?
| Now,
Buck is ready to unload some new material from his soon
be released first studio recording in eight years, “Jackpot.”
He clearly hits the mark with an incredible song entitled,
“You Don’t Know How You Make Me Feel.”
The indication here is that the energy being displayed on
stage is what has been captured in the studio. If that’s
the case “Jackpot” is available in stores on
June 7 and the eight years was well worth the wait. |
|
During the
evening I had the chance to visit Mr. Dural and the band backstage.
Despite his status as a “superstar” Mr. Dural is
always gracious and like his last CD, down home. He laughs at
the prospect of being labeled “The Pied Piper of Zydeco”
in my planned review and he’s encouraged by the audience
feedback and with advance press for “Jackpot.” Tonight,
Stanley Dural, Jr. is an artist at ease who’s still at
the top of game. Tonight we all hit the jackpot!
