LES ARCHIVES: SEASON ‘25
MUSIQUE(S)!
MAY 7 JULY 21 2025
A CONTEMPORARY ANTHOLOGY
OF LOUISIANA MUSIC IN
FRENCH AND CREOLE*
* PRESENTED WITH THE SUPPPORT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
6 MUSICIANS & MUSICAL 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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‘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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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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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.
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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.
A MUSICAL ANTHOLOGY TO
CELEBRATE WHO WE ARE.
EN MUSIQUE(S).
In August 2024, with the support of the Library of Congress, we invited six musicians & musical ensembles from Louisiana — 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 over 10 retailers across the country. 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 16, 2025).
PRESENTED BY NOUS, OUR INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL, FILM STUDIO AND PUBLISHING HOUSE
Producers: Rudy Bazenet and Scott Tilton.
Artistic Directors: Katya Vaz and Autumn Palen.
Film Director: Cory St. Ewart.
This project was made possible thanks to a Community Collections Grant, awarded by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in 2024. We would also like to thank the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development, the Gauthier Family Foundation, James Douglas Hislop, Denise & Jerry St Pierre, and Nicolle & Bob McGuiness.
Video
Excerpts from Musique(s)!, Le Film (2025)