Beau Jocque plays a Louisiana sound

Hot zydeco act comes for Mardi Gras weekend

Mardi Gras comes early this year, when Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers pump their distinctive blend of experimental zydeco into Hales Gym tomorrow night.

Proclaimed the de facto kings of zydeco in publications running the gamut from Rolling Stone and Spin to The Boston Globe and Travel and Leisure, Jocque's team of musicians have only recently broken out of the Louisiana-Texas touring circuit. While Oberlin's Hales Gym will be a far cry from the rodeos, trailrides and Creole dance halls the Hi-Rollers are accustomed to, the show promises to be fun for all.

While based in his regional style of South Louisiana zydeco, Jocque integrates influences from hip-hop to rock 'n'roll to reggae. His cover of Bob Dylan's "Knocking On Heaven's Door" has been critically acclaimed to be the freshest new take on this oft-covered tune, and the Hi-Rollers take War's "Cisco Kid" to a whole new level with lead guitarist Russel Dorian's Framptonesque talk-box.

As possibly the first Louisiana zydeco band to set foot in the Oberlin, Jocque and his merry band of Cajun revellers should take the campus by storm.

Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers come to Hales Gym tomorrow night, Saturday Feb. 21, at 9 p.m. It is a free public event.

Hi Rollin': Beau Jocque rocks the house on the accordion. (photo courtesy of Wilder Student Union)