No particular ranking here, just a solid list of releases I rave about to friends over the year. I often return to the recordings on this list and listen to them again and again.
I love 4Horses’ steel guitar ace Richard Comeaux whose playing is just spectacular.
The Dopsie Brothers, Dwayne and Rockin’ Dopsie Jr with brothers Anthony and Tiger in the Zydeco Twisters, both released records in the same year just months apart and played on each other’s records.
Marcella Simien deviated from her soul-funk of past records to deliver a very trippy mantra-based set of songs that reveal her personal transformation. Marcella’s Creole family have lived in the Mallet, LA since the 1700’s.
Barry Ancelet and Sam Broussard’s Le Grand Silence eclipses in light years what they did on 2016’s Grammy nominated Broken Promised Land. Normally thought of as a brilliant guitarist, Broussard also played fiddle, piano, bass, banjitar, flute and practically everything else and did some incredibly complex arrangements. Ancelet has no shortage of stories to tell.
| Artist | Album | Label | |
| 1 | Barry Jean Ancelet and Sam Broussard | Le Grand Silence and Ot | Swallow Records |
| 2 | Eden Brent | Getaway Blues | Yellow Dog Records |
| 3 | Benny Turner | BT | Nola Blue Records |
| 4 | Sean Ardoin and Kreole Rock and Soul | 25 Back to My Roots | Zydekool Records |
| 5 | Noel McKay | You Only Live Always | (Independent |
| 6 | Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers | Now is the Time |
Angel Dove Global/Universal Music
|
| 7 | Marcella Simien | To Bend to the Will of a Dream That’s Being Fulfilled |
Swamp Soul Records
|
| 8 | Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms | Gold in Your Pocket | Free Dirt Records |
| 9 | 4Horses Cajun Dancehall Band | Live Part Two La Poussiere | Swallow Records |
| 10 | Sweet Magnolia | Missed Miss Connections | (Independent) |
