More News

Tom Corradino formed Little Red and the Renegades in the early 1980s. Back then, zydeco was just the music people put on at Mardi Gras.

"When we started playing, there was nobody," says Corradino. "Occasionally, a zydeco band would come through here, but there wasn't this scene."

A quarter century later, zydeco and Cajun music boast a devoted following around Washington. Part of the credit should go to Sharon Schiliro and Michael Hart. The two met at a dance 18 years ago at Cherry Hill Park in D.C. and put together Dancing by the Bayou shortly after. The organization gives dance lessons and puts on Cajun concerts at Glen Echo Park.

"There weren't any formal dance lessons in the area for Cajun and zydeco," says Schiliro. "I like that it's the traditional acoustic sounds of French Creole music. The history of the music is so interesting. That too is very engaging."

And Dancing at the Bayou is doing it big this weekend: nine bands over two days in the park's Spanish Ballroom and Bumper Car Pavilion. Schiliro and Hart have lined up several acts from the growing local scene as well as a few nationally recognized bands.

"We're well known in the [zydeco] community," Schiliro says. "We've taught at festivals from the West Coast to the East Coast. We've gotten to know the bands and their families. We're very friendly people, and enjoy getting to know not only the music, but the people who produce it."

Like many Northeasterners who play zydeco, Corradino didn't grow up listening to the style. He played in blues and rock bands around his hometown of Amsterdam, N.Y. before happening across a strange record while studying at Syracuse University.

"I walked into this store one day and I saw this album by Clifton Chenier," he recalls. "It said ‘Louisiana Blues & Zydeco.' I loved blues. Here's this black guy playing the accordion and it was like whoa, what is this? I got to listen to this. I bought it and it kicked [butt]. I immediately tried to play that stuff."

Corradino's post-college band dabbled in zydeco, but mostly stuck to what audiences wanted.

"In upstate New York in the late '60s and '70s, you couldn't do a whole night of zydeco," the District resident says. "I'd get [flack] for playing the accordion for one song. I mean, people would literally people would throw stuff at me."

Corradino spent time in Louisiana and ended up in Washington in the late 1970s. A fellow musician's ex-girlfriend started to give zydeco dance lessons and the movement took off from there.

"I had talked everybody into going to Louisiana with me for Jazzfest," Corradino says. "She [the ex-girlfriend] learned how to do some of the dances, and she offered to teach people at our gigs. That really started the whole ball of wax going. As far as I know, we were the first people to do that."

New York City isn't exactly the zydeco capital of the world, or even the Northeast, but Brooklyn-born John Apicella aka Johnny Ace has been into roots music for a long time. He attended New York University and first heard zydeco on Gotham's WBAI. But it wasn't until the early '90s that the sounds of Cajun Country began to really move him.

"People either love it or they don't," says Apicella. "If you love it, it's something that just speaks to you. It grabs your soul. You hear this repetitive beat and you have to move. You're filled with this rhythm and you have to express yourself."

Apicella soon learned the ins and outs of the single row accordion. He jammed with zydeco bigshots like Li'l Anne and Step Rideau. The tipping point came on his birthday several years ago, when Mary bought her husband a private lesson with South Louisiana legend Steve Riley.

"I felt kind of nervous about even taking a lesson," Apicella admits. "But Steve was great. We got to jam for about three hours. It was terrific."

His band, Sidewalk Zydeco, formed in a very 21st century way back in 2006.

"I'd been trying to put a band together," Apicella recalls. "I tried a few times and it really didn't succeed. I was checking out Craigslist, and there was an ad on there from a guitar player looking to start a zydeco band. I answered it, and we showed up at a midtown studio. That's how we started."

Although he lives in Central New Jersey and practices law in Manhattan, Apicella finds time to travel the country playing the music that he loves. He performed at Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom in July.

"I thought it was fabulous," he says. "It's a beautiful venue. The dance floor is just gorgeous. I started out as a dancer first, so I'm sort of torn. I love to play, but I also like the dancing. The festival gives me a chance to do both. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Apicella and Corradino are passionate, but they are from New York. Nathan Williams hails from the region where traditional Creole music morphed into zydeco. He was born in St. Martinville, La., and moved to Lafayette at age 12. The music grabbed his attention.

"I first heard zydeco when I came up as a little bitty boy," Williams explains. "I came up listening to Clifton Chenier and stuff like that. And then I got introduced to Buckwheat Zydeco. I used to go to his dances and listen to him play. He'd let me sit in for one or two songs."

And it was a family affair. Williams' career gained steam when he started to play at a club owned by his brother Sid. For the past two decades, the 46-year-old has fronted Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas. On guitar is his brother Dennis Paul Williams and his son, Nathan Jr., plays keyboard.

"My brother has been with me over 20 years, and my first cousin has been with me almost 25 years," Nathan Williams says. "My brother had a record label and we put out a 45. Then we got introduced to Rounder Records. We've been on Rounder ever since."

While most roots genres have their dark moments, zydeco is all about having a good time. The musicians performing at the festival don't expect everyone to just stand around.

"I hope people come out and bring their dancing shoes," Nathan Williams says. "Because I'm gonna sock it to ‘em."

The Dancing by the Bayou Fall Dance Festival takes place this weekend in Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom and Bumper Car Pavilion, 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Bands will play from 11 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets range from $35 for a half-day pass to $100 for an all-weekend pass. Call 301-762-6730 or visit dancingbythebayou.com.