Le Travaillant

Description

Le Travaillant plays Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music, the dance music of French-speaking Louisiana.  We "Bring the Bayou Down By You."

The phrase "Le Travaillant" is Cajun French for "the working man," and its members have a great time living up to that name, playing long sets of upbeat two-steps and waltzes that keep feet energetically moving on the dance floor.

Work Sample

YouTube playlist of live performances of our Cajun/zydeco repertoire from the last few years.  Videos are generally representative of our performances.

The YouTube playlist submitted covers quite a bit of our live repertoire.

History

Formed in 2014, Le Travaillant has performed throughout northern Illinois, including New Orleans Fest in Chicago, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Kalamazoo College, Maple Tree Inn in Blue Island, Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest, Buddy Guy's Legends, Wilmette Park District's concert series, Reggie's Rock Club, Heaven on Seven Naperville, Ron's Cajun Connection (Utica), Miramar Bistro (Highwood), Careful Peach Boutique's Bastille Day celebration (Oak Park), Red Line Tap, Rockhouse (Wilmette), and private engagements for a wide variety of private events held by private and corporate clients that include the Lake Charles, Louisiana tourism board.

Artistic Vision

Le Travaillant plays Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music, the dance music of French-speaking Louisiana.

Traditional Folk/Ethnic Artform Statement

Le Travaillant plays Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music, the dance music of French-speaking Louisiana.  Founder Ethan Sellers' father grew up in New Orleans and played Cajun music on cassettes on long car trips.  Stewart and Dorian Gehring (father and son) are two generations of Cajun musicians, and Dorian has collaborated/toured with numerous Louisiana artists.

Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music is relatively rare in Illinois, so we consider it part of our mission to educate the public about it and the culture from which it arose.