Customer Reviews

Linzay Young & Joel Savoy

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Linzay Young and Joel Savoy's self-titled album is the perfect record to kick off the new Valcour Records Artist Series that is designed to release quality recordings of Louisiana musicians that wish to share aspects of their artistry that are perhaps not as widely known as their more public gigs. Aptly described as "kitchen music, plain and simple" it features good-old Cajun fiddle music from two great musicians widely known for their ability to swing.

Linzay and Joel have played music together for almost 15 years and it shows. They learned the fiddle together in Eunice at the Savoy Music Center jams as kids (I remember seeing Linzay and Joel performing fiddle songs together as little boys at the Liberty Theater in Eunice in the early 1990s). The boys went on to found the Red Stick Ramblers in 1999. Linzay continued his career with the Ramblers after Joel's departure in 2005 and Joel started the successful avant-garde Louisiana record company Valcour Records. These boys know Cajun-fiddling and play together like musical brothers, reminiscent of the work of Dennis McGee and Sady Courville. This album is exemplary of their long-standing musical relationship: they succeeded in recording these tracks in just one afternoon in Eunice, La at Joel's Savoy Faire Studio.

Many of the songs on the album pay homage to shared fiddling heroes like Dennis McGee, Wade Fruge, and Cheese Reed. There are some surprises and interesting choices however. Linzay sings "Si Tu Voudrais Marier" a song he learned a Joe's Acadiens recording. The song many people may be familiar with is the a capella version sung by Lula Landry that is a call and response between a woman and then the man where she isn't pleased by any of his offerings except his unwavering love, especially not his gold and silver. Linzay's version here creates a whole new perspective. Perhaps this song is what a man thinks a woman really wants? Other favorites are the intimate "Wedding March" that features a lamenting drone behind the harmony vocal and Joel's rarely heard solo work on "Mercredi Soir." While the double fiddle tunes are obviously praise worthy, Cajun music aficionados will take particular note of Joel's guitar chops and Linzay's impeccable Cajun French phrasing and pronunciation.


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This is a great disc, currently my favorite to listen to at work. I have a lot of cajun music, but somehow there is something really special about this one!! i don't do reviews, but i wanted to share my enthusiasm for the fine work Linzay and Joel have done here

Joel Savoy has made a lot of fine music with his brother Wilson,
mom Anne and pa Marc. He is a fine recording engineer. Some of his best work is with Linzay Young and another CD with Jesse Lege. He rocks in the
best Cajun tradition. Marc and Anne must be very proud. Buy everything Joel Savoy (pronouced Jo-el Sav-wah) makes.

A serious KO for Joel Savoy and Linzay Young. What do you get when you put two guys that have played music together for years in a room with some mics and a recorder. THIS! The musicianship is superb. The song selection is exactly what you expect. The whole album gives a feeling like you were invited to play bourree somewhere and two guys quit the game to play music in the corner. Although the arrangements are somewhat more simple than some other modern cajun recordings (no bass, accordion or drums), I count that as a positive. You can really hear every inflection in the French vocals and every slide on the fiddle. Five stars on this Valcour masterpiece.