Ann Savoy
{{short description|American musician, author, and record producer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Ann Savoy
| image = 2012 Ann Savoy, Liberty Theater, Eunice LA.jpg
| image_size = 250
| caption = Savoy performing at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, Louisiana, November 2012
| landscape = yes
| birth_name = Ann Allen
| alias =
| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|01|20}}
| origin = Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|Cajun accordion|Cajun fiddle}}
| genre = {{hlist|Cajun|folk}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|musician|record producer|actress}}
| years_active = 1980–present
| label = {{hlist|Vanguard|Arhoolie|Rounder|Memphis}}
| spouse = Marc Savoy
| associated_acts = {{hlist|Marc Savoy|Savoy Family Band|Savoy Doucet Cajun Band|The Magnolia Sisters|The Zozo Sisters (with Linda Ronstadt; 2002 and 2006)}}
| website = {{URL|annsavoy.com}}
}}
Ann Savoy ({{IPAc-en|s|ɑː|ˈ|v|w|ɑː}} {{respell|sah|VWAH}}; {{nee|Allen}}; born January 20, 1952){{cite web | url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ann+Savoy | title=Ann Savoy | publisher=Discogs | access-date=March 5, 2010 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ann-savoy-mn0000480251#biography | title=Ann Savoy biography | first=Craig | last=Harris | website=AllMusic | access-date=February 27, 2024}} is a musician, author, and record producer.
Biography
Savoy was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She resides with her husband Marc Savoy and family in Eunice, Southern Louisiana.{{cite news | last = Wirt | first = John | title = Savoy a key component of La. music | newspaper = The Advocate | date = September 5, 2008 | url = http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/27888869.html?c=1295751262018 | accessdate = January 30, 2011 | archive-date = July 7, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707062726/http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/27888869.html?c=1295751262018 | url-status = dead }}
As a musician, she performs with her husband accordionist Marc Savoy and fiddler Michael Doucet in the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band. She also has an all-woman band The Magnolia Sisters. She also performs with husband Marc and their sons, Joel and Wilson, in the Savoy Family Band. Most recently, she has put together a Django Reinhardt-style swing band called Ann Savoy and her Sleepless Knights.
Savoy appeared as a musician in the film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and was the associate music director of the film All The King's Men, working on this project with T Bone Burnett. She has appeared in many documentaries on the subject of Cajun music including a Les Blank film, entitled Marc and Ann.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
As a record producer she produced, among others, the Grammy Award nominated tribute to Cajun music, Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music, featuring singers Linda Ronstadt, John Fogerty, Nick Lowe, herself, and other noted musicians.
She is the editor and compiler of Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, which chronicles the history of Cajun and Zydeco music. Volume one was published in 1984,{{cite book |editor-last=Savoy |editor-first=Ann Allen |year=1984 |volume=1 |title=Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People |location=Eunice, Louisiana |publisher=Bluebird Press|isbn=9780930169015 |oclc=12422720}} and volume two was released in 2021.{{cite book |editor-last=Savoy |editor-first=Ann Allen |year=2021 |volume=2 |title=Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People |location=Eunice, Louisiana |publisher=Bluebird Press|isbn=9780930169022 |oclc=1267976066}} Savoy had put the project on hold while she raised four children and pursued a music career, but the downtime forced by the COVID-19 pandemic plus the encouragement of her grown children allowed her to complete volume two in 2020.{{cite news |last=Wirt |first=John |date=November 27, 2020 |title=Out of the box: Ann Savoy finally wraps up sequel to her 1984 classic Cajun music book |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/music/article_70f025c6-2dc0-11eb-8f74-538f22b61410.html |work=The Advocate |location=Baton Rouge, Louisiana |access-date=November 29, 2020}} Volume one garnered the American Folklore Society's Botkin Book Award, and the documentary film J'etais au bal was based in part on the book.{{cite news |last=Cross |first=Dominick |date=October 10, 2019 |title=Ann Savoy helped blaze a trail for women in Cajun music |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/entertainment_life/article_89c1ecd8-ebb8-11e9-b4f5-6705c509bdea.html |work=The Acadiana Advocate |access-date=November 29, 2020}}
She has recorded a number of albums. As The Zozo Sisters, she recorded with Linda Ronstadt the Grammy Award-nominated and Billboard-charting CD Adieu False Heart. That album is notable for being Savoy's first time recording in English.{{cite news |last=Caffery |first=Joshua Clegg |date=July 26, 2006 |title=Songbird Sisters: South Louisiana's Ann Savoy teams up with pop icon Linda Ronstadt for their new CD, Adieu False Heart |url=http://www.theind.com/cover2.asp?CID=-1710469275 |work=The Independent |location=Lafayette, LA |access-date=October 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000105/http://www.theind.com/cover2.asp?CID=-1710469275 |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead}}
Discography
=Ann Savoy and Her Sleepless Knights=
- If Dreams Come True (2007) Memphis Records
- Black Coffee (2009) Memphis Records
=With Savoy Doucet Cajun Band=
- Home Music with Spirits (1981) Arhoolie Records
- Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band (1984) Arhoolie Records
- With Spirits (1987) Arhoolie Records
- J'ai Ete au Bal: I Went to the Dance various artists (1989) Arhoolie Records
- J'ai Ete au Bal: I Went to the Dance video (DVD); various artists (1989) Arhoolie Records
- Two Step D'Amadé (1993) Arhoolie Records
- Les Harias: Home Music (1993) Arhoolie Records
- Live! (1994) Arhoolie Records
- Cajun Country video (DVD); various artists (1995) Shanachie
- Aly Meets The Cajuns video (DVD); Aly Bain and others (1998) Whirlie Records
- Sam's Big Rooster (2000) Arhoolie Records
- Best of the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band (2002) Arhoolie Records
=Magnolia Sisters=
- Prends Courage (1995) Arhoolie Records
- Chers Amis (2000) Rounder Records
- Après Faire Le Boogie Woogie (2004) Rounder
- Stripped Down (2009) Arhoolie Records
=Savoy Family Band=
- Savoy Family Album (2003) Arhoolie Records
- Turn Loose But Don't Let Go (2008) Arhoolie Records
- Live at the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2013) New Orleans Jazz Fest
=With others=
- The Rough Guide to Cajun & Zydeco Various Artists (1999) World Music Network
- Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music Various artists, including and produced by Ann Savoy (2002) Vanguard Records
- Adieu False Heart with Linda Ronstadt as the Zozo Sisters (2006) Vanguard Records
- Allons Boire un Coup: A Collection of Cajun and Creole Drinking Songs Ann and Joel Savoy; Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine – various artists (2006) Valcour Records{{cite web |url=http://www.valcourrecords.com/ |publisher=Valcour Records |title=Valcour Records |accessdate=November 21, 2019}}
- I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country four-EP set – various artists (2015) Valcour Records
- Fais Do Do: Louisiana Lullabies Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine (2019) Valcour Records
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.annsavoy.com/}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060216182955/http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/music/savoy.htm Marc and Ann Savoy]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070726172646/http://savoymusiccenter.com/bios.html Savoy Music Center]
- [https://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_savoy.html PBS American Roots Music]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savoy, Ann}}
Category:American folk singers
Category:American folk musicians
Category:American women singers
Category:American music historians
Category:Record producers from Virginia
Category:Musicians from Richmond, Virginia
Category:American women historians
Category:Singers from Louisiana
Category:Vanguard Records artists
Category:Rounder Records artists
Category:American women record producers