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Archive Files of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musicians |
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Hubert Maitre and His Cajun Friends |
Click here for high res photos on Flickr of Hubert Maitre and his new band,
the Triangle Aces.
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In 2008, Hubert Maitre continues to perform
his long-standing gig on Thursdays at Randol's Restaurant in
Lafayette. In 2007, when Horace Trahan played regularly with Maitre,
they recorded a live album at Randol's. The CD has 15 cuts that
include both Cajun and zydeco numbers.
Maitre is featured on "Church Point Breakdown," "Big Mamou," "J'ai pleuré," "Lena Mae," "Big Wood Waltz," and "Monkey Song." Trahan's numbers include "Walking the Floor," "Poor Hobo," "Oh Yea Yi," "Zydeco est pas salé," "Games People Play" (Nathan Abshire's French cover of the song Joe South wrote using the tune "'Tit galop pour Mamou"), and "Cock Roach Two Step," Nonc Ray Guidry handles "Orphanage Waltz," "The Fisherman" (Nonc Ray's version of "Treville est pas pecheur"), and "Shane's Waltz." Other musicians on the CD are Rachel Wilson on drums; Brett Denais on bass; and Joey Guidry. In more recent performances at the Liberty, Maitre has billed his band as the Triangle Aces. In 1960, Maitre's parents, Adam and Lula Mae Maitre, built a dance hall in Scott on Highway 93 using lumber from the old Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church. After his father died, Hubert Maitre ran the club with his mother until they sold it in 1968. In its day, it was one of the top Cajun clubs. It finally closed in 1982. |
When he decided to star on his own CD after a long career of more than four decades as a musician with other bands, Hubert Maitre chose the right title song for the album title: Camey Doucet's "La Vieille Chaudière Noir" ("The Old Black Pot"). The combination of Doucet's songwriting ability and Maitre's talent as a veteran musician made "La Vieille Chaudière Noir" an instant hit on Cajun radio programs. It received a Le Cajun nomination for Song of the Year in 2001 from the Cajun French Music Association. The album was also nominated as the the Best First Recording, and Maitre himself was nominated as Male Vocalist of the Year.
Though Maitre didn't win the awards, his rendition of Doucet's sentimental song about the memories evoked by looking at an old black pot in which Mama used to cook family meals remains popular in Southwest Louisiana. By the end of the song, the pot represents all of the love that held close-knit Cajun families together.
According to the liner notes, Maitre has been playing Cajun music since he was nine years old. He has performed with Joel Sonnier, Walter Mouton, Lawrence Walker, Tony Thibodeaux, and Austin Pitre. He has toured throughout North America and in Europe, including performance for BBC radio in London and at Carnegie Hall in New York. He was a member of the Old Tymers Cajun Band.
Louis Foreman, who played fiddle with many great Cajun bands,
including Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys and Lawrence Walker and the Wandering
Aces as well as with Nathan Abshire, died April 14, 2003, at the age of 84.
In other cuts on the CD, Hubert Maitre handles the lead vocals on Helen Boudreaux's "Ayoù toi t'es," on Jean Arceneaux's "Un amusement qui m'a coûté," and on his own Cajun version of "Over the Waves." Derrick Maitre sings "Qui c'est qui te Ttens collé," a Blackie Frugé standard, Lee Manuel's "Souhait du veuve," "Old Fashion Two-Step," and Robert Jardell's "La valse de amille cassé."
Other musicians on the CD are Pat Thibodeaux on accordion; Jason Frey on fiddle; Derrick Maitre (Hubert's son) on drums; Chris Longon on steel guitar; and Chris Ardoin on bass.
Pat Thibodeaux sings his version of "Gonna Look Like a Monkey" in French and Adam Hebert's "Tu va jamais cassé mon coeur." Jason Frey handles the vocals on "Lawtell Two-Step."
Although the CD is especially welcome because of the new song, "La Vieille Chaudière Noir," all of the other songs are excellent versions of some Cajun favorites.
The CD is produced by Acadiana Records of Eunice, the recording studio associated with Dee's Cajun Gifts.
For booking information about Hubert Maitre, phone 1-337-235-5884.
In the photos on this page taken at the Liberty Theater, Hubert Maitre is shown on guitar with his son, Derrick Maitre on drums, and some other veteran Cajun musicians: Ray Lavernge on accordion; Jack LeBlanc on bass; and Louis Foreman on fiddle.
All photographs and text by David Simpson.
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