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Its 9 AM the Saturday morning of Mardi Gras weekend at Savoy’s Music Center outside of Eunice in St Landry Parish Louisiana.

And its raining: pouring buckets, coming and going in sheets and waves, never truly letting up.

Tornado and flood warnings are being broadcast and still they come: Cajun musicians, young and old alike, multiple generations and an audience that appreciates the music and musicians of Acadiana.

The front room of Marc Savoy’s Music Center quickly fills up with damp musicians and a damp but eager audience

Good warm boudin, fresh beignets and hot coffee are on hand but they are not the real attraction.

Miss Esther Lejeune

Milton Vanicur ~ 94 Years Young

An accordion player (never more than one center stage), folks that can both sing and recollect the words, fiddle players, guitar players, the youthful and gifted piano player, a pedal steel player, a triangle player or two (nobody was enforcing the rule of no more than one); all up front.

No amplification; no amplification needed!

The audience came and went very little and swelled quickly to fill the chairs and space in the room. Locals and folks from away. Musicians got seating preference. There seemed to be an unstated recognition among the musicians of one’s talent and skill by whether one was accorded up front facing the audience seating in the music circle. You earned your seat and access to it. Deference was paid in kind and subtle ways to those musicians that had put in their time, so to speak, and knew the old French Acadian tunes, and, most importantly, knew the words: a culture being cultivated, celebrated and kept alive through its music.

Later: a harmonica player floated around on the fringes of the crowd, an out of place trombonist stood in briefly, a stand-up bass player, a banjo picker, a couple of concertinas.

Marc Savoy

Milton Vanicur’s grandson

Freddie Hanks ~ 84 Years Young

Last year’s Savoy Jam images, a different weekend.