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CLAUDIA LA ROCCO Associated Press Writer, October 2005 Chile Pepper Fiesta celebrates cultures of spice, including hurricane-ravaged southwestern Louisiana NEW YORK -- Louisiana musician Chris "Oscar" Courville lost just about everything when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. His house will likely be bulldozed. His drums, submerged in the trunk of his car, were covered in a vile mix of mud and sewage _ and that's the good news. The gunk added a "new depth of funk" to his band's sound, fellow musician Louis Michot said. New Yorkers can hear for themselves this Sunday, when the Lost Bayou Ramblers perform their irresistible Cajun music at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's 12th annual Chile Pepper Fiesta. The festival celebrates spicy cultures from Mexico to Thailand, with cooking demonstrations and tastings, drumming and dance performances and activities for children. Several of the participants hail from southwestern Louisiana, where a vibrant culture is struggling to adjust to a landscape transformed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "Southern Louisiana is one of the most complex cultural landscapes in North America, if not the world," anthropologist Ryan A. Brasseaux said from his home in Lafayette, La. "I think (the hurricanes) will have some serious cultural implications, as folks are displaced across the country. It's a natural disaster, obviously, but it's just as importantly a cultural disaster." Brasseaux and his father, who together co-wrote "Stir the Pot: The History of Cajun Cuisine" with cookbook author Marcelle Bienvenu, will discuss the cultural fallout from the hurricanes at the festival on Sunday. Of course, a discussion of Cajun culture is, on some level, a discussion about food. "The first complaint I hear from people who are displaced is, 'Boy, the food's bad,"' Ryan Brousseaux said. "I think that cuisine is going to play an enormous role. It may have a Creolizing effect on America. "Food is how we celebrate each other," he added. "If anything gets us through this it will be at the dinner table." Music is also playing a role, say members of the Lost Bayou Ramblers. Besides Courville and Michot, who is the band's lead singer and fiddler, the troupe consists of Michot's brother, accordionist Andre Michot; guitarist Jon Bertrand; and Alan LaFleur on upright bass. Their third album has just been released; ironically, its title is "Bayou Perdu," or "Lost Bayou." The reaction to their music has been better than ever from people "who are just glad to be alive," Louis Michot said. The band, which is donating 10 percent of merchandise sales to the Red Cross, jokes that its current tour is for the "Oscar Relief Fund." Also performing at the festival will be Ashlee Wilson, who will demonstrating waltz, two-step and zydeco dance steps with Ryan Brasseaux, Andrew Suire and Frederique Lamy. Lamy is a Quebec native, but the others grew up in and around Lafayette, a city bursting at the seams with Katrina evacuees. Some have relished having loved ones closer to them. But deadlocked traffic, emptied grocery aisles and overwhelmed schools are taking a toll, said Wilson, a teacher from Ville Platte. "There's no city that's been untouched" in Louisiana, she said. "I think we're all kind of stunned," she said. "We just have to keep truckin."' With flights rerouted and phone service disconnected, just getting the band and dancers to New York has been challenging, said Anita Jacobs, director of public programs for the garden. Judging by the passers-by who stopped to clap and dance Friday when the Lost Bayou Ramblers offered a short preview, it was worth the effort. Members of a local wedding party sashayed down the garden paths, smiling and nodding their heads to the lively rhythms. Wilson kicked off her shoes as Courville twirled her around, and several other members of the band hopped onto LaFleur's bass after he propped it on its side. "It's not about impressing people or making something fancy," Louis Michot said afterward. LaFleur smiled, agreeing. "If it doesn't feel like you're at our house, having a good time, it's not working."

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