Queen Juanita & The Zydeco Cowboys – Dance Hall Jamboree

Queen Juanita and the Zydeco Cowboys
Looking like they’ve just stepped out of the 1950s, Queen Juanita and the Zydeco Cowboys is a four-piece dance band celebrating the melting pot of Swing, Country, Rockabilly, Reggae and Western Swing styles from Louisiana and beyond.

Be ready to dance and to party as Queen Juanita (vocals, accordion, guitar) joins Dr Zot (vocals, guitar), Bigmo Taylor (upright bass) and Mr Murv (drums) for the pulsing rhythms that have made this band a favourite with festivals and dancers.

Formed in Canberra in 2008, Queen Juanita and the boys have caused hips to shake across several states including the Illawarra, Cobargo, Snowy Mountains and ACT Multicultural Festivals, numerous clubs, pubs, weddings, parties and dance hall jamborees. Their live CD “Dancehall Jamboree” is out now!

Queen Juanita and the Zydeco Cowboys is a Louisiana style dance band featuring Queen Juanita on vocals and piano accordion and Dr Zot on guitar. Queen Juanita and her band celebrate the exquisite melting pot of sounds of Louisiana covering Zydeco, Cajun, Swing Blues, Swing Jazz, Country, Rockabilly, Reggae and Western Swing. Be ready to dance and to party!

The members of the band include:

(Queen) Juanita Cucinotta on lead vocals, piano accordion and acoustic guitar. Juanita has a background in jazz, roots, blues and country and has been performing for the last 15 years both in Sydney where she sang and played keyboards with her jazz combo Two Steps to Heaven for five years before moving to Canberra where she was keyboard player and backing/lead vocalist for local blues band The Business. From 2002 to 2006, Juanita performed in the popular Canberra vocal trio The Blues Cowgirls, singing lead and vocal harmony, acoustic guitar and piano accordion. Juanita decided to form this band because of her newfound love for the piano accordion, a great passion for dancing (the best thing I ever did was learn to dance!) and of course her continuing love affair with roots inspired music.

She met Dr Zot one day who was also looking to perform dance music, especially Western Swing, Ian’s favourite style. The two were linked by Brian Taylor who most certainly wanted to play this music. And finally, we found Murv who just loves the variety of the rhythms we play from this amazing musical community.

Ian “Dr Zot” Stehlik on guitar and vocals. Dr Zot is an accomplished singer /songwriter and finger-style guitar player, exploring the acoustic blues, roots and folk traditions from the 1920s to the current time, with a focus on ‘the magic zone’ where music and listeners resonate. Ian has been playing guitar since his teens and his passion for the guitar can be witnessed on his online website www.zot.com.au, and through the many workshops and displays he has presented over the years in various festivals throughout Australia. Ian has played with Canberra’s other Zydeco band Allez-Gator and he leads his own acoustic roots and blues band, Dr Zot and the Rhythm Project.

Brian Taylor on upright bass and washboard tie. Brian is a founding member of legendary blues band Blind Freddy. He has played on the same stages as the mighty Albert King, Junior Wells and Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers. A member of the renowned Chicago jump blues band The Groove Kings and winner of the Canberra Blues Society’s “Best Bass Player” award, Brian’s prowess on the upright bass will have dancers boppin till they drop!

John ‘Murv’ Cowel on drums and percussion. While sometimes known as “Murv” for legal reasons, John has been drumming for over 30 years in a wide variety of combos around eastern Australia. He was a founding member of the outrageous Mullamatics and Kid Vegemite bands in the early eighties and spent many of the following years laying down the beat for Sydney bands such as Squeeze and Buster Bondi. Since coming to Canberra, John has played with many Canberra outfits and is really enjoying the local music scene.

Queen Juanita and the Zydeco Cowboys “Dancehall Jamboree”

Short Description:

Queen Juanita and the Zydeco Cowboys is a Louisiana style dance band. We set out in the recording of this album to recreate the dancehall style of 1950’s, so that the listener can experience in their own lounge room a swinging, rocking, dance album reflecting the many different styles that hail from Louisiana: zydeco, jazz, blues, country, Cajun, and reggae.

The album kicks off with a tribute to Fats Domino in “Hello Josephine”, before embarking on a whole set of original tunes including the New Orleans funk of “Zydecoco”, the Cajun feel of the accordion on Down In The Swamp, western movie resonances in Ghost Town, a hint of 1940’s vaudeville on Jumpin’ Queues and country grooves in The Only Thing.

The songs are contagious and catchy but the stories behind them draw on life and love, from the late night blues groove of Keep On Walking, to the déjà vu feeling of meeting a soulmate in Something About You, to celebrating that special person in the reggae beat of My Babe.

Queen Juanita is a popular live band on the east coast festival circuit and dance venues around Canberra. “Dancehall Jamboree” captures the feeling of being out on the dance floor when the band is cooking. Enjoy!

Band members: Juanita Cucinotta – lead and backing vocals, piano accordion and guitar Ian ‘Dr Zot’ Stehlik – lead vocals, guitar Brian ‘Bigmo’ Taylor – double bass Murv Cowell – drums

Special Guests:
Ian Blake – Bass clarinet, C melody sax and soprano sax Chris Tominich – blues harp

Track Listing:
1. My Girl Josephine – Fats Domino/ D Bartholomew 2. Zydecoco – Dr Zot 3. Baby You Got What It Takes – M Stein/C Motis 4. Down In The Swamp – Dr Zot 5. Something ‘Bout You – Juanita Cucinotta 6. Ghost Town – Dr Zot 7. Jumping Queues – Juanita Cucinotta 8. Keep On Walking – Dr Zot 9. My Babe – Dr Zot 10. The Only Thing – Juanita Cucinotta 11. You Might Be – Dr Zot 12. Choo Choo Ch’Boogie – Darlin/Gabler/Horton

“One of my dreams with this band was to bring back the dance as a central part of people’s lives: before we had computers, dvd players, karaoke machines and sequenced music technology, we used to connect through music by real musicians playing real instruments. Dance is one of the best forms of a natural high that I know of and the dancehall concept takes me back to a society of families socializing in a safe and harmonious environment with live music, food, beverages (alcoholic and non alcoholic) and laughter”. Queen Juanita

Something About You is another yearning for love song, how one would feel when you meet your soulmate, that déjà vu and that knowing, that we have met before and have finally reconnected after a number of years or even lifetimes.

The Only Thing (That Comes Back To Me) is about my working life and how music, regardless of how little money I make, I can never give up, as it is a part of me, just as my mind and my body are me. The song follows my life from the beginning of my working life until now and wherever I travel, music (and now dance) is always part of my existence in some form or other, be it performing, teaching or just plain experiencing it.

Jumping Queues by Queen Juanita originally written over 20 years ago, sprang from a bad experience driving home in Brisbane one afternoon. I became so exasperated with the experience of people just driving so crazily, I came home and wrote it in one go – words, melody and feel, which is very rare. And Ian Blake’s vision of the song helped to create the vaudeville movie feel you can hear on the recording.

We chose to include three of ours and audience favorite covers in the cd. All are terrific dance tunes with catchy riffs and melody and are fairly representative of the kind of tunes you would find Queen Juanita playing at your local Bowling Club gig. Fats Domino is a favorite singer songwriter whose songs we just love to play – he is such a talented writer! Baby You Got What It Takes has a terrific country blues jazz feel and the classic Choo Choo Cha Boogie by the great Louis Jordan is a big favorite for us and our dancers.

The cd was recorded in Canberra in 2010 at Blue Bear Studios of Ian Blake (ianblake.net). Photographs were taken by Murray Foote (murrayfoote.jalbum.net) at our second National Rockabilly Ball in 2010. Cd art by Kathie Griffiths (Kathie_griffiths@hotmail.com).