Know the Difference Between Zydeco & Creole?

Check out this interview with Grammy-winning artist and ASC LIVE ON THE PLAZA featured performer Terrance Simien.



Q: What is Zydeco?
A: Zydeco music is one of the most unique and wildly popular forms of American Roots Music. A Southern music tradition that is revered all over the world. It is the indigenous music of the multi-racial, multi-cultural French speaking Creoles of south west Louisiana and the core instrumentation is the accordion (diatonic-button & chromatic-key) and the frottoir (or rubboard). The word Zydeco comes from the African word “zaico laga laga”, meaning “to dance”. Many zydeco songs are sung in French. The music has evolved a great deal throughout the years and has become a fusion of many different styles and musical influences. The one constant in the music has been the change. The notable Dr. John of New Orleans was once quoted by CNN in an interview, stating that “if the music aint changin’ - it’s dyin”. Clifton Chenier changed the music from the days of Amede Ardoin. Amede Ardoin changed the music from the days of the jure and so the change continues. The earliest form of zydeco music was called the jure: the slave songs, the spirituals, field songs, call and response all a cappella and without instruments. Today zydeco music is featured in film, TV and national advertising and has garnered 3 Grammy awards in the past 20 years.

Q: Who is a Creole?
A: Most standard dictionaries indicate that a Creole is a native of Louisiana descended from the original French settlers. A person of African and mixed European, esp. French and/or Spanish decent. However the Native American and German roots are prominent as well in the Creole community. In St. Landry Parish, LA, the Simien family is one of those first families documented to have settled that area. Some experts say the Louisiana Creoles are part of one of the “most complex rural sub cultures in North America.” Dr. Carl Brasseaux, author of Creoles of Color in the Bayou Country, states that the Creoles were some of the “first families of Louisiana” and official records reflect that they have been here for over 300 years. I am 8th generation Creole and my father’s first language was French.

Q: Where are you from?
A: I grew up in the small church parish community of Mallet, LA in St. Landry Parish, which is considered the “Capitol of Zydeco Music”. My band is from Mallet (Ralph), Lafayette (Danny), New Orleans (Sammy), Mexico (Jose) and Greece (Demetri).

Q: When did you first start playing music?
A: My first instrument was the family piano, but it was in High School that I really got serious with the trumpet and then the accordion about the same time.

Q: How’d you get started playing?
A: When I was 14-15 my parents bought me my first accordion. I would record the zydeco shows on the radio, take the tape in my room and practice until I learned the material. I picked some guys from the community to be my band, whoever was available at the time and just started playing local dances at the church halls. Then I moved onto the zydeco club circuit of Louisiana and Texas. A woman I knew from DC, Patti Harrington booked my first “national tour” to the NE in 1983. I signed with a national booking agency in 1985 and the rest is history!

Q: How long have you been playing professionally?
A: Over 20 years now. Two decades and millions of miles later I have performed in over 25 countries to probably a million people now. If I did the math and reached, modestly, 50,000 people a year for 20 years, that’s an easy one million, right? My friends and road family make my life on tour so much easier. The promoters who I cannot even call promoters any more cuz it’s just too impersonal, have become like family. Our fans, another word I cannot use comfortably, because these generous people take us into their homes and introduce us to their parents, their kids, their colleagues and they also become friends and also more like a family. How many wedding receptions we have performed for-you don’t spend this important day with someone and not feel a type of kinship-it’s one of the greatest compliments to be included in this special celebration. Another one was when someone wrote to us to tell us our music was played at the birth of their child! That was really something special.

Q: When was your first big gig in front of a large audience?
A: The World’s Fair in NOLA in 1984. I could not believe the response and the applause we got from those audiences. At home in the church halls and zydeco clubs, they don’t really applaud, so when I experienced this for the first time, I knew this was the way it should be and this helped inspire me to push forward.

Q: How long has your band been with you?
A: Ralph and Danny have been with me for like 15 years. The others different lengths of time. My guys are so important to the music and the mission and they support me in so many different ways. I am very fortunate to have such talented and committed artists to help me fulfill my artistic vision.

Q: Have you ever played New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival?
A: Every year for the past 18 years.

Q: When is Mardi Gras and what does it mean?
A: It’s always the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi means Tuesday and Gras means Fat. In medieval France they would fatten a cow to kill for the feast on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which starts the 40 days of penance before Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. At home we still celebrate this holiday and abide by the 40 days sacrificing something we enjoy.

Q: Do you cook and what do you cook well?
A: I love to cook! Of course like most guys, I pride myself on my barbecue. But I really love to cook gumbo and sauce picquante. I my gumbo I use turkey based sausage and tasso (smoked meat used for seasoning) products from Best Stop in Scott, LA along with shrimp and crab claws. I use dry roux that also helps make it more lean and healthy. I sometimes fry a pretty good catfish and shrimp in the backyard. We live 20 minutes from Delcambe where the shrimp boats come in and so we like to drive down to buy the absolute freshest shrimp you can find!

Experience Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience at the ASC next Thursday, May 6 for the first LIVE ON THE PLAZA outdoor live music & dance event. Tickets are $15 in advance / $20 day of and at the door. Purchase at www.AlysStephens.org and by calling (205) 975-2787.

Terrance Simien's "Creole for Kidz" Program

A multicultural arts-in-education “informance” (informational performance) that has reached over 250,000 K-12 students, parents and educators at schools, art centers and festivals around the globe in places far away from Louisiana. This unique program has informed and engaged young and family audiences in Australia, Mali, Paraguay and all over Canada!

The Creole for Kidz & The History of Zydeco program is of course centered on the indigenous zydeco music of the French speaking Creoles of south Louisiana and is accompanied by a 6 page study guide used to help prepare the students in advance for the performance.

“This production was a huge success. The school and the Mayors Office continue to get calls almost daily from parents and teachers in thanks for the presentation they attended. During each performance the connection between Simien, his band and the teacher/student audience was almost palpable. While having the time of their lives, students and teachers were learning new things in an interactive environment while affirming each other’s diversity. It was beautiful to observe such a positive experience!” - Sabrina Beach, Development Director, Epiphany Day School.

“Terrance Simien is a model of success. He has taken his role very seriously and the materials developed for the students are both professional and informative. We need more programs like this that provide information and instill pride of heritage in the young Creoles of this community." - Louise Chargois, Instructional Supervisor, Social Studies Lafayette Parish School System.

Terrance Simien brings Zydeco and "Creole For Kidz" to the ASC, Thursday, May 6, at 6 P.M. tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Call (205) 975-ARTS for tickets. Hope to see you there!

Live on the Plaza Artist Profile: Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience

"Where we come from, if people don't dance it's an insult!," said Terrance Simien in Billboard. "The real deal is: We a lot of times get people in the crowd who are kinda shy and really wanna dance. We kinda force things so the ones that should dance will come up." Simien accomplishes this by interspersing frantically fluttering hand gestures with riffs from his diatonic button accordion equipped with an extra-long bellows that he allows to hang and shake as he bounds about the stage playing it behind his back and between his legs.

Zydeco has always been high energy music, but Simien's frenetic presence sets him apart from his contemporaries. According to Rick Mason in the St. Paul Pioneer Press- Dispatch, even when Simien was virtually unknown in Louisiana, his performance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival generated sparks in the crowd. With "his face painted in a vivid rainbow of colors" and his "long hair flying in every direction, Simien tore up the place with a sweaty, explosive performance," Mason remarked.

The word zydeco is a modification of les haricots, or snap beans, as popularized by the traditional Cajun song "The Snap Beans Aren't Salty." According to Timothy White in Billboard, zydeco grafts Acadian folk songs on to the Afro-Caribbean rhythms brought to Louisiana by French-speaking slaves and free men of color after the Haitian Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century. German immigrants introduced the accordion to the fiddle-focused Cajun instrumentals in the 1870s, and the washboard or "frottoir," played with spoons or bottle openers, gave zydeco its unique percussive drive.

Clifton Chenier did much to popularize the music in the 1950s; in the St. Petersburg Times, Simien credited him with opening new vistas for zydeco. Chenier expanded the slower, mostly acoustical sound of traditional zydeco by adding drums and electrical instruments, infusing it with a strong rhythm and blues feeling. Indeed, today's zydeco bands often carry strong guitarists capable of delivering hard-edged blues.

Simien noted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch that the music continues to evolve: "We grew up listening to different kinds of music--rock and roll, soul, reggae, pop, and stuff like that. So I incorporate some of that stuff with our zydeco music, just by writing songs that might have been influenced by maybe a Bob Dylan, a Mick Jagger, or something like that."

Born in Mallet, Louisiana, on September 3, 1965, Simien spent three years studying jazz and classical trumpet at Lawtell Elementary and grew up watching his mother sing in the choir of St. Ann's Catholic Church. Like many people of his generation, Simien initially didn't care much for zydeco. As he said in the St. Petersburg Times: "There was a time, mostly in the 1970s, when zydeco was almost extinct. It was confined to the older generation. Younger people thought it wasn't cool to go to the zydeco dances. I was into soul music and rock and roll."

But that changed when he stopped going to the record hops at the church hall because he thought they were too juvenile and uptight. At 13, he started sneaking into local clubs like Slim's Y-Ki-Ki in Opelousas. In the St. Paul Pioneer Press- Dispatch, Simien recalled that he "fell in love with the music 'cause it was something that I could really dance to and didn't have to dress a certain way or dance a certain way. It was laid-back stuff, man, something I could really relate to."

Soon Simien was a regular listener to the weekly Lou Collins' Black Zydeco Special out of Eunice, teaching himself the music of Fernest Arceneaux, the Sam Brothers, and Clifton Chenier on a $250 Hohner single-row diatonic accordion he had received for his fifteenth birthday. Unlike other zydeco performers such as Buckwheat Zydeco and Clifton Chenier, who play the bulkier piano version, Simien has stuck with the cruder button accordion. Although it limits virtuoso technique, Simien's instrument of choice rocks harder and lets him move around more, according to Eric Snider in the St. Petersburg Times. In 1982 Simien started the initial and short-lived incarnation of the Mallet Playboys, because as he explained in Billboard, it "was an older clan that didn't want to learn more than five songs."

Simien was more careful with his band selection from then on, holding auditions to assemble a younger group comprised of his longtime rubboard player Earl Sally, bassist Popp Esprite, Troy Gaspard on drums, and Mark Simar on guitar. Simien had been splitting his time between working with his father as a bricklayer and playing at local clubs. At the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans, however, he was noticed by a woman who booked him for several dates in the Washington, D.C., area. Soon the band was touring all over the United States.

In 1985 Simien performed at New York's Lone Star Cafe. He related in The New Folk Music that "all kinds of musicians showed up to hear us. Keith Richards and Ron Wood got on stage and played. Paul Simon came down to hear us, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan." Simon heard about Simien from Dickie Landry, a Cajun saxophonist, composer, and producer who had spent a couple of decades in the New York music scene. Simon considered the band for his Graceland album, but ultimately settled on the more traditional Rockin' Dopsie.

Nevertheless, their meeting was fortuitous because Simon produced a 12-hour recording session for the band. As Simien recounted in the St. Petersburg Times: "Paul gave us the tapes and said, 'This is a present, do what you want to do with it.'" Simon even sang background vocals on the song "You Used to Call Me," which was released as a regional single on the small Grand Point label. And as Rick Mason commented in the St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch: "The single nonetheless became part of the band's promotional package, helping the Playboys secure gigs for its increasingly hectic international schedule."

Dickie Landry also got Simien an audition with director Jim McBride and Dennis Quaid for a cameo during a club scene in the 1987 movie The Big Easy. Hired on the spot, Simien ended up co-writing one of the two songs on the soundtrack. The year 1987 also marked the band's first European tour, which included the prestigious Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where they opened for Fats Domino and Sarah Vaughan. In 1990 Simien and the Mallet Playboys released their first album, Zydeco on the Bayou, on Restless and performed on a national Chevrolet commercial. The band tours constantly and has opened for Los Lobos and Robert Palmer.

In 1992 the Mallet Playboys taped a television show for PBS's Lonesome Pine Specials and began recording their second project, There's Room for Us All. This album is indicative of Simien's eclectic musical vision. From adding a talkbox to zydeco oldies and turning Boozoo Chavis's classic "Dog Hill" into an extended party mix, to experimenting with reggae and soul--for years Simien has covered Peter Tosh--Simien continued to expand zydeco.

The album also boasted the presence of guests like bassist/producer Daryl Johnson, pianist Art Neville, and the Meters. As Simien commented in Billboard, "The album's title says it best: There's a lot of musicians on this record that came from different bands and different backgrounds, and there are a lot of different people in this world that we gotta learn to love and accept." For Simien there is even room for the audience, whom he often welcomes on stage, giving them tambourines, cowbells, and washboards, inviting them to join him as he carries on.

by John Morrow

It’s not just a Zydeco show, it’s an all-out foot-stompin’, washboard scrubbin’ experience. Don’t miss Grammy award-winning Terrance Simien and his eclectic Zydeco Experience as they swing into town and crank up the fun at the ASC. Terrance and Co. have toured the globe, performing and recording with some of the world’s biggest stars like Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, The Meters and The Dave Matthews Band. Plus, Simien’s accordion work was recently featured in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog soundtrack. In addition to his Live on the Plaza performance, he brings his award-winning Creole for Kidz program to ASC “Arts in Action” students.

“Simien is a Zydeco Master: his voice yearning like Sam Cooke, he delivers soul worthy of Stax greats and shows crossover class.” - Rolling Stone

On Thursday, May 6, Terrance Simien will make a stop at the ASC for the Live on the Plaza series. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $20 at the gate. Call (205) 975-ARTS for ticket information.

The All-New Summer Concert Series at the ASC!

Just announced, UAB’s Alys Stephens Center is presenting a Summer Concert Series for the first time beginning May 26 with The Swell Season. Fear not, the shows are all casual - come as you are! On June 25, Sam Bush & Friends grace the Alys Stephens Center with their ecclectic acoustic stylings, mixing reggae, funk, jazz, and blues, just to name a few! Then, on July 23, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Grammy-Award-Winning singer and songwriter, will stop by the ASC to show her acoustic prowess, more specifically in the folk genre. And, as a grand finale to the Summer Season, Jonny Lang graces the ASC with his prodigal blues sound. Lang has played with the likes of Buddy Guy, the Rolling Stones, and Jeff Beck. These shows are all sure to blow your mind. For every show except The Swell Season, there will be Summer Tunes, BBQ, and Brews in the Haskell Courtyard at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to The Swell Season are on sale now. The remaining three shows are on sale May 3. Call (205) 975-2787 for more information.

Live on the Plaza Artist Profile: The Serenata Latin Band and DJ Carlos

SERENATA Band was born around four years ago as a trio playing just for small parties. The band quickly gained popularity at parties around Atlanta and throughout the Southeast.

Current formats range from a duo or trio for small parties, up to as large as a 9pc format for larger events, festivals and Latin showcases. The band can custom tailor the size and musical arrangements to fit the needs of any event.

We have played in many locations from small restaurants to huge festivals as well as private parties, where the crowds do nothing but dance, clap and ask for more.

Our variety of rhythms, including Latin Jazz, Salsa, Merengue and many others styles, are able to entertain Americans, Latin and people from all over the world.

Sincerely we would love to be considered for your future events. SERENATA Band can add a brand new taste of true Latin flavor to your festivals, celebrations or parties.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your congas. This explosive band has been voted by Creative Loafing as Atlanta’s “Best Local Latino Music Act” for several years in a row. Serenata Latin Band & DJ Carlos draws influence from six different countries ripping out the rhythms of Latin jazz, Salsa, and Merengue. In short, it’s hot. And it’s very cool. So get ready to move your feet, because once the music starts, you won’t be able to stand still.

“Dance lovers from across the cultural spectrum are inspired by the
beat and the rhythms of this band." – Creative Loafing

The Serenata Band brings the wonderful world of Latin music to the ASC on Thursday, June 3. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Call (205) 975-ARTS for tickets! ¡Véale allí!

"Can You Keep Up With Smokey?" Smokey Robinson Today

Today, Robinson still continues to grace us with his Motown soul. He has been given such awards as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Smokey has continued to perform and tour periodically. In 2003, Robinson served as a guest judge for American Idol during "Billy Joel Week." He issued a gospel LP, Food for the Spirit in 2004. In 2005, Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. A new album of pop standards from the early 20th century, Timeless Love, was released in June 2006. It was originally recorded with a jazz combo, but strings were added after the fact, giving the album more of a lush sound but removing much of the jazz feeling of the disc.At its 138th Commencement Convocation in May 2006, Howard University conferred on Robinson the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa. In December 2006 Robinson was one of five Kennedy Center honorees, along with Dolly Parton (with whom Robinson had recorded a 1987 duet, "I Know You By Heart"), Zubin Mehta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubin_Mehta) , Stephen Spielberg, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. On February 11, 2007 Robinson sang "Tracks Of My Tears" at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, as part of a tribute to R&B music which included Motown labelmate Lionel Richie and current R&B star Chris Brown. Robinson performed on the sixth season finale of American Idol on May 23, 2007. Robinson and the top six male contestants performed a medley of his hits.On March 25, 2009, Robinson appeared again on American Idol this time as a mentor. He coached the top 10 contestants of Season 8, who performed classic Motown songs. He also premiered the first single, "You're the One For Me", which features Joss Stone. The song also became available on iTunes and Amazon, March 26, 2009. The song is an updated version of the song "You're The One For Me Bobby," which he wrote and produced for The Marvelettes in 1968 for their album "Sophisticated Soul." On March 20 2009, The Miracles were finally honored as a group with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Smokey was present with original Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore ,ex-wife (and Bobby's cousin) Claudette Robinson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Robinson), and ,Gloria White, accepting for her husband , the late Ronnie White Smokey's replacement, 70's Miracles lead singer, Billy Griffin was also honored. Controversially, original Miracle Mary Tarplin was not honored, against the wishes of his fellow Miracles, and the group's fans, who felt that he should have also been there to share the honor.On May 9, 2009, Smokey Robinson received an honorary doctorate degree and gave a commencement speech at Berklee College of Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berklee_College_of_Music) 's commencement ceremony.On August 25, 2009 Robinson released Time Flies When You're Having Fun. A self produced and written CD of mostly new material on his own RobSo label. The CD includes a cover of the Norah Jones hit "Don't Know Why". Special guests on the LP include India Arie, Carlos Santana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santana) , and Joss Stone. The Joss Stone duet "You're the one for me" was performed on American Idol. The CD also contains a homage to early Motown and Michael Jackson with the hidden bonus track "I Want You Back."Smokey Robinson is, truly, a living legend, accomplishing more in his lifetime than most even dream about. Music pioneer Smokey Robinson will grace the stage at the Viva Health Starlight Gala, April 24 at 7 p.m. If you have yet to get tickets, call (205) 975-ARTS for information on how you can see this once-in-a-lifetime performance of one of the greatest artists of all time.

Smokey Robinson, an excerpt from Entertainment Weekly online

Smokey's songs have always suggested that love is a complex game, if not an outright conundrum, and his own life is a testament to that viewpoint. He married Claudette in 1959 when he was 19, and they divorced 27 years later. They remain close — remarkably so, in fact. It seems to be far more than a matter of being bound by finances, or by the two children (Berry, 32, and Tamla, 31) and three grandchildren (3-year-old Lyric, a girl, and the twins, Alex and Alexis, born in December) they share.

The lyrics to a pair of old Miracles hits offer significant clues to the powerful, possibly karmic, nature of his relationship with Claudette. In the plaintive ''Ooo Baby Baby,'' he sang, ''I did you wrong/My heart went out to play/But in the game I lost you/What a price to pay,'' all too accurately presaging the events leading up to the couple's divorce in '86 (two years after Smokey fathered an out-of-wedlock son, Trey, with a paramour). ''More Love,'' which Smokey wrote expressly for Claudette in 1967, tells another tale, one in which the singer pledges to shower his mate with ''more love/and more joy/than age or time could ever destroy.'' Both sentiments ring true.

''Claudette is my heart,'' says Smokey, who has never remarried. ''We're not in love, but we are lovers. I don't mean physically, I mean we're spiritually connected. I could not have a woman in my life who would not understand who Claudette is to me.''

For her part, Claudette says she is ''healed'' of any post-divorce ill will, and speaks feelingly of her ex-husband's fundamental goodness. ''He has never stopped coming to visit for the holidays,'' she says. ''What always came across [in Smokey] was a gentleness. I remember telling my mother after I met him, 'Mom, he's one of the nicest guys I know.' I think he got those qualities from his mom and his older sister. His mother passed away when he was 10, but she must have been a very wise woman to inject all that wisdom and knowledge about life into him.''

The son of a bowling-alley pinsetter and a housewife, William Robinson Jr. was born Feb. 19, 1940, on Belmont Street in the North End of Detroit. When he was 6 or 7, his Uncle Claude christened him ''Smokey Joe,'' which the young William, a Western-movie enthusiast, at first assumed to be ''his cowboy name for me.'' Some time later, he learned the deeper significance of his nickname: It derived from ''smokey,'' a pejorative term for dark-skinned blacks. ''I'm doing this,'' his uncle told the light-skinned boy, ''so you won't ever forget that you're black.''

Read more.

Live on the Plaza Artist Profile: Johnny Angel and the Swingin' Demons

Johnny Angel and the Swinging Demons genuinely represent an era of American classical music (jazz) that has passed. But the sounds that come from Johnny's bandstand when he swings out are anything but stuck in time. Johnny and his top-flight New Orleans cats have a progressive sound that is still being shaped. Ergo, this is not a revival band, but a working group of serious musicians who know they've started something much bigger than its component parts. Whereas many bigger names have already made it, the hunger of the Swinging Demons means they follow their fearless leader wherever he takes them from his own bag of favorites to big-band standards to personally penned classics, Johnny is still making his sound and proving his artistic vision nightly. Anyone who saw Duke in the '20s (Washingtonians) or Goodman's incarnations in the '30s knows that special time when a genuine sound is about to explode. You can feel Angel and his Demons undeniably dynamic freshness in every song; they cause feet to tap and heads to turn wherever they play. New York supplies the roots for Johnny, but New Orleans gives his sound a caramelized backbeat sweeter than local molasses. Johnny doesn't just cover songs he embraces them, making each melody his own. The way Johnny sings truly redefines the music from this by-gone era as he and his mates expand the ever-growing definition of swing. With the way Johnny makes his audience part of the show - via his big band dance lessons and Sinatra-esque schmoozing patrons always clamor for more. Just Johnny's fashion sense and pompadour make you take notice, but it is his command of the entire offering that keeps you glued to his every note. Hey, this guy who used to do hair for Bobby DeNiro and other top stars must do pretty good if he can ditch his day job to become one of the best bandleaders/singers that the Big Easy has ever known...and he does... Here are a few of the accolades Johnny and his band(s) have received: OFFBEAT MAGAZINE Entertainer of the Year 1998 Newcomer of the Year 1998 MUSICIANS ATLAS Band of the Year (South region) - 2000 And these are just some of the amazing gigs where Johnny has performed: NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL (ACURA stage)- New Orleans,LA. FRENCH QUARTER FESTIVAL (Main stage) - New Orleans, LA. THE MANDEVILLE SEAFOOD FESTIVAL -Mandeville, LA. THE BLUE ROOM - ROOSEVELT/FAIRMONT HOTEL -New Orleans, LA. DISNEY WORLD Orlando, FL ISLE OF CAPRI Shreveport, LA CASINO MAGIC Bay St. Louis, MS THE BEAU-RIVAGE & GRAND CASINOS - Biloxi, MS HARRAH'S CASINO - New Orleans, LA BALLYS - New Orleans, LA TREASURE CHEST - New Orleans, LA D-DAY MUSEUM - New Orleans, LA MEDAL OF HONOR Ceremony - Houston, TX HILTON HOTEL - New York, NY BOOTLEGGERS BISTRO - Las Vegas, NV Democratic and Republican Party Events - Washington, D.C. BBC-TV for Sickle Cell Anemia Benefit - London, ENG OGLOBAL TV - Sao Paulo, Brazil Opened for THE STRAY CATS - Sao Paulo, Brazil Opened for JERRY LEE LEWIS @ HOB - New Orleans, LA Broadcast on BRAZILIAN NATIONAL RADIO Broadcast on WWOZ-FM Radio 90.7 in NEW ORLEANS, LA And a few of Johnnys other choice accomplishments: Cameo appearance with Burt Reynolds in film TEMPTED (with Julie LaShae) Appeared with Jamie Fox (who won an Oscar for his role) in the film RAY Appeared in the CBS Mini-series ELVIS Bandleader and Studio Producer for the film THE RISING PLACE Johnnys original song, IN HIS ARMS, used in CBC-TV show LE MADAME CONSUL Writer and Producer of the live musical theater; CLUB DEUCE.
-Dave Hershorin, editor, "National Champs."

Welcome back to a time when girls are dames, dudes are cats and swing is king! Join New Orleans’ favorite swing band and get ready to jump and jive. Honored as OFFBEAT MAGAZINE’s “Entertainer of the Year”, Johnny Angel unpacks a devilishly-good show that’s sure to get everyone out on the dance floor. As a frequent performer at Jazz Fest, Johnny has also appeared on screen with Burt Reynolds in the film “TEMPTED”, with Jamie Fox in “RAY” and in the CBS mini-series “ELVIS.” So slide on over to the ASC and have a jazzy good time. No zoot suit required.

On Thursday, May 20, Johnny Angel and the Swingin' Demons swing to the ASC. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Call (205) 975-ARTS for tickets.

ASC Presents the "Live on the Plaza" Series

Introducing Birmingham’s hottest outdoor dance and live music party!

Spring is in the air. And now it’s time to get out of that normal Thursday grind. Come step outside for some extra-groovy evenings filled with dancing and live music. Move to the sights and sounds of some of the country’s funkiest tunemasters as the ASC outdoor plaza is transformed into a fun-tastic dance floor beneath stars. So bring your boogie shoes and your friends. And get ready to move! Four Thursdays this Spring.

The artists showcasing the series are Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, Johnny Angel and the Swingin' Demons, The Serenata Latin Band and DJ Carlos, and The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker.

Each show will run from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M., rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, the performances will be held in the Alys Stephens Center Grand Lobby. There will be a VIP Lounge for ASC Junior Patrons, as well as complimentary food and a cash bar serving cocktails. Live on the Plaza is sponsored by Renasant Bank and Birmingham Weekly. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $20 at the door. Call (205) 975-ARTS for ticket information.