NPR

Songs We Love: Lost Bayou Ramblers, 'Kalenda'

The Pogues' Spider Stacy, Leyla McCalla and the saxophonist Dickie Landry contribute to a deep, atavistic and swampy version of "Kalenda."
Lost Bayou Ramblers.

In South Louisiana, a great deal of formalized effort goes into the preservation and celebration of the state's Francophone culture; food, music, other crafts and folkways, and particularly language. In 1968, the state legislature established an agency called the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), tasked with revitalizing the use of Louisiana French variants after a multi-decade push for Americanization,, resulting in decreased fluency and the legitimate threat of cultural loss.

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