Introduced zydeco music to the world
Musician Stanley (Buckwheat) Dural Jr., who rose from a cotton-picking family in southwest Louisiana to introduce zydeco music to the world through his namesake band Buckwheat Zydeco, has died. He was 68.
His longtime manager Ted Fox told The Associated Press that Dural died Sept. 24. He had suffered from lung cancer.
Fox said the musician and accordionist died at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, La. He gained fame by introducing zydeco music of southwest Louisiana to the world.
“This is one of the world’s true genius musicians. A completely natural musician who could just fit in in any scenario,” Fox said.
As news of his death spread, friends from around the world paid their respects.
“Buckwheat Zydeco embodied a genre and represented a community with his signature playing style that brought distinctly creole zydeco music to fans across the globe,” said Neil Portnow, who heads The Recording Academy. “The world lost a music heavyweight.”
Zydeco music was well known across southwest Louisiana, where people would often drive for miles to small dance halls where zydeco bands featuring an accordion and a washboard would rock the crowds for hours.
But Dural took zydeco music mainstream, launching a majorlabel album — the Grammy-nominated On a Night Like This — with Island Records in 1987. He went on to jam with musical greats like Eric Clapton, play at former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s inauguration and perform at the 1996 Olympics closing ceremony in Atlanta.
He jammed with Jimmy Fallon on the final episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon played the guitar backed up by the Roots while Buckwheat Zydeco rocked the accordion.
“He brought zydeco to unprecedented new audiences,” said Ben Sandmel, a music historian who wrote a book titled Zydeco! about the music.
Dural earned his nickname because he had braided hair when he was younger that resembled Buckwheat from The Little Rascals television show. Born Nov. 14, 1947, in Lafayette, La., Dural was one of 13 children.
Fox described one evening in 1987 where Dural took the stage during a concert where legends Clapton, Ringo Starr and Phil Collins were already jamming. Playing a Hammond B3 — a multi-tiered organ — Dural got into a back-and-forth jam with Clapton, who eventually turned around, stuck out his hand to Dural and said: “Hi! I’m Eric Clapton. Who are you?”