1. John Irvin Delafose was an American French-speaking Creole Zydeco accordionist from Louisiana.
14 Facts About John Delafose
1. 2.
John Delafose eventually took up the harmonica, and at the age of 18 learned the button accordion.
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John Delafose began as an accordionist and harmonicist with a variety of local Zydeco bands.
4.
John Delafose gained wider public recognition with albums such as Joe Pete Got Two Women and Blues Stay Away from Me.
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John Delafose was seen in performance footage and his music was featured on the soundtrack of the 1992 John Sayles film Passion Fish.
6.
John Delafose was a featured artist in the 1989 documentary film J'ai ete au bal.
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John Delafose had a dynamic style and strong rural roots, with a strong staccato rhythm on the accordion, which has influenced almost all current Zydeco musicians.
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John Sayles 8.
Unlike some of the younger performers at the time, John Delafose sang in both English and French, and his repertoire featured two-steps and waltzes in addition to the highly percussive Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Zydeco.
9.
John Delafose occasionally played fiddle with the band, which was rare in Zydeco music.
10.
John Delafose's hit version of the Canray Fontenot song "Joe Pitre a Deux Femmes" brought the single-row accordion back into favor among Zydeco musicians.
11.
John Delafose had a heart attack in 1993, while on the road headed toward a festival in Rhode Island.
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John Delafose later recovered, but experienced bouts of fatigue afterwards.
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John Delafose died after a short illness in the early morning hours of September 18,1994 at the Opelousas General Hospital.
14.
John Delafose was buried in the cemetery of St Mathilda Catholic Church in Eunice, Louisiana.