GLENOLDEN — Greg Troiano sums up zydeco music in two words: "musical gumbo."
Played with an accordion, bass and lead guitars, a trap set, and a rubboard, zydeco is the breezy, catchy Creole-style music of Louisiana. But Troiano, known to his fans as the Snakeman, leader of the Alligator Zydeco Band, has never been to the Big Easy, for one simple reason.
"With music pouring out of every doorway in New Orleans, I'm afraid I'd never leave," Troiano said with a grin.
A resident of Glenolden, Troiano and fellow band members travel to eight states, Florida to Colorado, bringing Southern-style sounds to audiences at about 120 concerts a year.
Today from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., the band will celebrate its fifth year performing at Jam on the River on the US Airways Stage, Penn's Landing, off Christopher Columbus Boulevard in Philadelphia.
Zydeco is produced by a mix of African, Haitian, Caribbean, and other cultural sounds of Louisiana. It is influenced by Cajun music, another style performed by the band, Troiano said.
For Cajun, the traditional pre-1800s instruments are two fiddles, spoons and a triangle; post-1800s includes the accordion. Cajun music comes from the Acadians, French settlers originally from Nova Scotia who relocated to Louisiana in the 1700s and incorporated folk dances and other European styles into their music, he said.
Both zydeco and Cajun musical styles have French-language influences. The Alligator Zydeco Band performs many songs completely or partially in French, Troiano said.
Formed in 1995, the Alligator Zydeco Band includes Troiano, his daughter Laura Troiano of Glenolden, Mark Armstrong of Paoli, Buddy Plaugher of Holmes, and Mike Whren of Philadelphia. The band has produced two compact discs, White Hot B.Y.U.Z. (Basic Yankee Urban Zydeco) Music and Allons Danser.
Greg Troiano is a self-taught musician who plays the harmonica, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, tenor banjo, charango (a South American stringed instrument), and various rhythm instruments. He played bluegrass, folk, swing, and rock/fusion music with several bands before discovering zydeco at a performance by Queen Ida during a rainy weekend at the 1985 Philadelphia Folk Festival.
"Zydeco was the most powerful music I'd ever heard," Troiano said. "I saw 3,000 people dancing in a foot deep of mud. I wanted more."
