She's played Carnegie Hall and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," "Austin City Limits" and "Saturday Night Live." She's won a Grammy, published a memoir/cookbook, recorded eight albums and, at an age when most people are itching for retirement, still manages to give 150 or so performances a year.
She's Queen Ida, a 62-year-old grandmother with a raspy/bluesy voice and wailing accordion, the hottest zydeco musician since Clifton Chenier. Sunday, she'll be bringing her Bon Temps Zydeco Band to Salt Lake City to open the Summer Concert Series at Red Butte Gardens.
Zydeco music is a jambalaya of musical flavors: blues, jazz, country/western, folk, rock 'n' roll. Until the 1950s, its zig-zap rhythms were seldom heard anywhere but the homes, dance halls and juke joints of French-speaking black Creole communities along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Clifton Chenier, the "King of the Bayou," brought zydeco out of obscurity in the early 1950s, but Queen Ida has made it accessible to millions through her performances, both live and on television, radio and in films. In addition to her Grammy, she has received a long line of other awards from a wide variety of sources, including being honored as the W.C. Handy Female Blues Artist of the Year in 1989. She has traveled throughout Europe and Africa as well as all across the United States.
But to really know the Queen -and her music - you'll have to read her memoir/autobiography, "Cookin' With Queen Ida." It's a delightful, warm recounting of her life on her parents' farm in Lake Charles, La., to her success as a musician in the Bay area after she had raised her three children.
Weaving in out of her memories are recipes for Creole/Cajun cooking that range from the exotic (fried frog legs, rabbit etoufee, oxtail stew) to the more familiar (gumbos, jambalayas, catfish). Like zydeco itself, the food is lively, spicy and, above all, HOT!.
At 62, will the Queen be slowing down? "I don't want to stop," she said in a telephone interview from San Luis Capistrano, Calif., where she was to perform. "So far, knock on wood, all the traveling hasn't affected my health. In fact, it's probably helped me move around better than if I'd just stayed at home."
Still, she has reduced her performances from around 200 a year to a more comfortable 120-150. She is now working on her ninth album and assisting her son Myrick in his own music career."I'm trying to relax, let the young folk do this music."
Asked to name a favorite recipe from her cookbook, Queen Ida didn't hesitate. "Try the jambalaya or the shrimp Creole." But she warns: "Follow the recipe carefully. Don't improvise. If you don't like spicy food, cut down on the cayenne, but don't leave it out. It just wouldn't be Cajun."
I followed her advice, except about the cayenne. I used the amount she recommended - and wished I'd used about half as much.
*****
(Additional information)
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
8 cups cooked rice (preferably pearl rice, such as Calrose or Blue Rose)
2 tablespoons oil
3-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound smoked sausages, slices into about 1-inch lengths
1 pound fresh tomatoes, peeled (or a 16-ounce can of whole tomatoes)
8-ounce can stewed tomatoes
11/2 cups chicken broth (or more, as needed)
11/2 teaspoons salt
11/2 teaspoons cayenne (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon powdered dried thyme
1 bay leaf Allow cooked rice to cool completely, and break up any lumps. (If the rice is hot when you stir it into the jambalya, it will become mushy. You want your rice to be grain-for-grain, so that the jambalaya will separate easily with a fork.)
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven and lightly brown the chicken on all sides. Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon and reserve. In the same pan, saute the onions, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and garlic. Add sliced sausages and brown 5 mintes. Then add the browned chicken and remaining ingredients. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat immediately to a simmer, and cook uncovered until chicken is thoroughly done (about 25 minutes). Stir occasionally and make sure there is always enough liquid. (Add more water or broth if liquid evaporates too quickly.)
Taste carefully and correct seasonings; mixture should be spicy. Remove the bay leaf, and if desired, remove chicken, let cool slightly, bone it, and return it to the Dutch oven. Tilt the pan and, with a large metal spoon, skim any excess fat. Then, with a large serving spoon, stir in the rice by spoonfuls, until the mixture is moist and thick but neither soupy nor dry. Taste again and correct seasonings. Warm together over low heat, stirring frequently, and serve.
Serves 4-5.
From "Cookin' With Queen Ida."