Buckwheat Zydeco

Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco playing on the main stage at the 2006 Festival International de Louisiane
Buckwheat Zydeco playing on the main stage at the 2006 Festival International de Louisiane
Background information
Birth nameStanley Dural Jr.
Also known asBuckwheat Zydeco
Born(1947-11-14)November 14, 1947
Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 24, 2016(2016-09-24) (aged 68)
Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals, accordion
Years active1971–2016
LabelsAlligator Records
Tomorrow Recordings
Rounder
Island/PolyGram
Charisma/Virgin/EMI
Websitewww.buckwheatzydeco.com

Stanley Dural Jr. (November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016),[1][2] better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band[3] ("Ils Sont Partis" being French for "They have left," or a race announcer's "And they're off!"[4]), but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.

The New York Times said: "Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances."[5] USA Today called him "a zydeco trailblazer."[6] Buckwheat Zydeco performed with famous musicians such as Eric Clapton (with whom he also recorded), U2 and the Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. Buckwheat performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations.[4] The band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, CNN, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio's Mountain Stage, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

  1. ^ Pareles, Jon (September 24, 2016). "Stanley Dural Jr., Founder of Buckwheat Zydeco, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Russell, Tony (September 29, 2016). "Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural Jr obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Buckwheat Zydeco Ils Sont Partis Band Discography. Discogs.com. Retrieved on September 29, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Borden, Timothy (2002). "Buckwheat Zydeco". In DeRemer, Leigh Ann (ed.). Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 34. Gale. pp. 37–39.
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon. The New York Times, February 15, 2008.
  6. ^ Gundersen, Edna (April 22, 2009). "Can't hit Jazz Fest? Let the music come to you". USA Today. Archived from the original on Apr 27, 2009.