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Hear Andrew Limbong's remembrance of Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr. at the audio link, and read on for an obituary written by Mark Mobley.


Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr., an international ambassador for Louisiana roots music with his genre-leaping band 

. He was 68.
Dural died of lung cancer at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, La. (In August, Cynthia Simien, an agent and manager who is married to zydeco musician Terrance Simien, and Dural's daughter Tomorrow Dural had started 

 to defray Dural's medical expenses.)


Given the easy familiarity of the zydeco sound — accordion, washboard, a driving beat and infectious energy — in everything from pop music to TV commercials, it's sometimes difficult to remember that it was not always instantly recognized outside its home. In 1987, when Island Records, the home of U2, released the Buckwheat Zydeco album 

, Dural became the first zydeco artist on a major label. This was just one milestone among decades of them in a career that included a Grammy award and performances at the 1996 Summer Olympics and President Bill Clinton's inaugural festivities. He played with musicians as varied as Eric Clapton, Yo La Tengo and the Boston Pops.
Dural, the son of amateur musicians — a singing mother and accordion-playing father — began his career on keyboards. He played R&B and funk until he sat in as organist with the band of one of his father's best friends, 

, "the king of zydeco."
"We played for four hours nonstop," Dural 

 in 2009, "and he was telling people goodnight and I couldn't believe it. And I thought we had just got onstage; that's how much energy he had projected. I wound up staying with Clifton over two years. I said, 'Next band I get, I'll be playing accordion.'"

Dural took up the accordion in 1978 and founded Buckwheat Zydeco a year later. In 30 years of touring and recording, he took zydeco to unexpected physical and musical places. From his take on Bob Dylan's "

 in May, Dural was a welcoming presence who made his audiences happy.
"If you want to get respect, you've got to give respect," Dural 

Arts and Culture

Andrew Limbong

Author

Mark Mobley

The international ambassador for Louisiana roots music died early Saturday morning of lung cancer.

Buckwheat Zydeco's Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural Jr. dies

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