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VOLUME 60, NUMBER 17 MERCER UNIVERSITY, MACON, GA. FEBRUARY 9. 1979
Louisiana La Roux Concert Monday
Le Roux takes its came from
the Cajun.French term for the
thick and hearty gravy base
that's used to make gumbo, a
vitamin-laden soup that's ac
tually of Bantu origin. It’s
appropriate moniker for
six-man aggregation of
and musicians who call
Rouge. Louisiana their home.
The band’s music, transfer
red to vinyl with the release
their debut LP on Capitol,
Louisiana's Le Roux (April
19781 is chock full of thick and
hearty instrumental textures
that pull from blues, R&B,
funk, jazz, rock ’n roll, and
Cajun roots. Their sound is
laced with multi-layered four-
and-five part harmonies served
up—«t^,a wide range of
imaginatively arranged songs,
and seasoned with years of
collective experience on the
road and in the studio.
Most members of Le Roux~
vocalist/keyboardist Rod Roddy,
vocalist/reed & horn player/
percussionist Bobby Campo,
drummer/ percussionist David
’ Peters, and leader/bassist/pro
ducer Leon Medics-have for
some time, been the main
in-house rhythm section at
Studio In The Country (SIC) in
Bogahisa, Louisiana (Kansas
and Stevie Wonder have worked
on projects there). They've
backed scores of artists at the
tucked-away facility, including
Clifton Chenier and Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown; and
they’ve done extensive session
work at studios such as Deep
South in Baton Rouge and
Applewood in Golden, Colorado.
Jeff Pollard. Le Roux’s chief
songwriter, lead guitarist and
lead vocalist, has put in five
years of session work at SIC and
Deep South and before joining
up with Medics and craw, he
production work at SIC, was
producing some demos of
original tunes by Pollard, using
guitarist Tony Haselden to
share lead and rhythm interplay
with Pollard, the group cut its
wrote
(the
For those of ymt who mi—a if Jimmy Bullet a few years bock..
fronted the Levee Band, an
accoustic unit that built a
constituency around the South
ern Club circuit. The newest
member of Le Roux, vocalist/
guitarist Tony Haselden, has
contributed to recent albums by
Donna Holt and Benny Spell
man and has done a lot of road
work during his 14 years a/ a
professional player.
The genesis of Le Roux goes
back, to Gatemouth Brown’s
summer 1977 State Department-
sponsored musical goodwill tour
of Africa. Gatemouth had
approached Medics before the
tour, asking him to put together
a backing band for the
excursion. At the same time.
Medics, using studio time he'd
accumulated in payment for hia
musicians clicked, so they
dubbed them—Ives The Jeff
Pollard Band and hit the road to
Africa, opening each Gate-
mouth show with songs of their
own before backing the head
liner on hia set.
Le Roux went back to Studio
In The Country last winter,
where, following the addition of
tenth was penned by Medica
and Hoyt Garrick). The LP
showcases tight harmonies,
extremely proficient musician-
ship, and vast arrangement
abilities. “Take A Ride On A
Riverboat" opens with bright a
cape 11a vocals that slide smooth
ly into the track's funky rhythm.
“Love Abductor" is a great
piece of burning funk sparked
by hot guitar lines, and “New
Orleans Ladies" is a respectful
ballad with a beautiful multi-
tracked flute solo. ’’Slow
Bum", which is kicked off with
Medica's bass lines popping
off-beat accents to set up the
backbeat rhythm, showcases
the band’s instrumental versa
tility with fierce druras-bass-
guitar-piano-trumpet-dual gui
tar soloing. The band's vocals
on "Heaverrly Days" are
slightly gospel-flavored, and
“Can’t Do One More Two-Step'
is a jumping tune based on early
Mardi Gras rhythms.
Complementing the sound of
LouisisnVs Le Roux is Medica's
creative yet economic produc
tion and engineer Warren
Dewey's precision at the record-
console. Along with vocal
and instrumental multi-tracking,
there’s some use of phasing,
echo and other effects, and the
various percussive accents are
well-blended in the final mix.
Louisiana's Le Roux sounds
vital and alive, a blend of
toughness and tenderness
that’s purely Southern yet
—veral stages beyond basic
12-bar boogie.
College Bowl All Stars
To Compete At Regional
Homecoming Schedule
February 9, 1979
AKMF Party
Surday. February 11
Gong Show: Cafeteria, 6:00
p.m., $60 first prize. *
Monday, February 12
Louisiana's LeRoux. Willing
ham, 8:00 p.m., $2.00 Student
(must have valid I D.), $5.00.
General Admission.
Tuesday, February 13
Movie—''GoodbyeGirl": Wil
lingham, 8:00 p.m., $1.00
Student (must have valid I D.),
$1.50, General Admission.
Wednesday, February 14
Basketball, Mercer Teddy-
bears vs. Un. of* Georgia,
Macon Coliseum, 6:00 p.m.
Basketball, Mercer Bears vs.
Middle Tennessee, Macon Coli
seum, 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 15
Langdon Gilkey: Ware Hall.
7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 16
Faculty Talent Show: Willing
ham. 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 17
Parade: Downtown, 1:00 p.m
$100 first place; $50 second
place; $25 third place.
Alumni Baseball Game, 2:00
p.m.
Basketball, Mercer Teddy-
bears vs. Valdosta State. Macon
Coliseum. 6:00 p.m.
* Basketball. Mercer Bears vs.
Southern Mississippi, Macon
Coliseum. 8:00 p.m.
Dance: Monument Room of
the Macon Coliseum after the
Mercer Bears vs. Southern
Mississippi game.
by Lindy Russell
On Tuesday, January 30,
Mercer had its first annual
College Bowl. Ten teams,
headed by John Birch, Mar ben
Bland. Martha Brown. Pam
Byrd. Amanda Cox, Jamie
Gauthier. Doug McLean, Ri
chard Psnarese, Steve Reed,
and Eric Salter, came together
in the single-elimination compe
tition. Jamie Gauthier's team
composed of him—If, David
Page, Eddie Long and Laurie
Hughes placed first
competition.
The panel of judges (Judge
Dunaway, Jack Sheppard, Bar
bara Sheppard, and Rex Ste
vens) picked an AU-Star team
from the contestants, based
upon responses, and genera]
display of knowledge. Team
members include Marben Bland.
John Birch, Richard^PanareSe.
and Eric Salter.
The All-Star team, along with
Jamie Gauthier and Laurie
Hughes will repre—nt Mercer
in Regional Competition
Americus today.
Moderators Bill Stembridge.
Emory Whilacker. Barry Jen
kins, and Jack Reynolds did a
nice job of keeping everything
calm and academic. The score
keepers were Carolyn Reynolds.
Nancy Anchors. Gerry Norwood
and.Tracy Wood.
this
Doug McLean's lesnf eager -to^nawer questions during Mercer's
first annual college bowl.
