The name is absent

41

solo. Here the chords are rolled upward from the melody, giving the impression of octave
displacement in the melodic line.

Third Movement: Joe Férail

The third movement of Cajun Set is based on the song Joe Férail est un Petit
Nègre. This tune, described by Whitfield as a “characteristically Cajim melody,”⁶⁹ was
also transcribed from a Lomax record. In the liner notes accompanying his record, Lomax
notes that it is a “contemporary white imitation of the ‘Cajun’ Negro blues style, giving a
portrait of the legendary Joe Férail, who sold his wife for a bushel of potatoes.”⁷⁰

Whitfield’s translation of the lyric is as follows: “Joe Férail is a little pickaninny
whom Madame Joe is rocking. Regina, the mulattress, sold him to me for a song.” ⁷¹ The
melody is quite a bit shorter than the other two songs and simpler in many respects. It is
divided into two identical lines, each made up of a call and response. Only five notes are
used, and the range is exactly one octave. The most interesting feature of the song is the
alternating dotted rhythms.

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Whitfield, 125.

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Alan Lomax, ed. : Bahaman Songs, French Ballads and Dance Tunes, Spanish
Religious Songs and Game Songs, original recordings, Library of Congress Recording
Library AAFS L5, 1956, LP.

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