BRIEF ARTICLES

New York, NY Jennifer Romolini, May 2003 It's not every day you see the Brooklyn Federation of Black Cowboys dismount their horses en masse, tie them up and head into a bar to jam. But that's what happened one night in August, when the troupe descended on the Dumbo spot Superfine. They were there to catch the Lost Bayou Ramblers, a high-energy Louisiana French band that was playing that night to a full house. The group is back in town this week to toast its new self-released debut CD, Un 'Tit Gout (A Little Taste), with a heap of shows.The Lost Bayou Ramblers, who formed in 1999, are "roots Cajun" musicians: They play a swampy, foot-stomping, traditional Deep South style with a rhythmic blues flavor. Headed by a magnetic lead singer, Louis Michot, the band often gets compared to '30s Cajun musical pioneers such as Dennis McGee and Amede Ardoin.In concert, the band is high-spirited and soulful, and its moves, closer to Devo than to Hee Haw, encourage dancing-dorky, spirited, jumpy, partnered dancing. The whole experience is somewhere between country and cool, a postdork evening (or afternoon) to remember.

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