Every Saturday, from left, JB Theriot and George Lamfree of Breaux Bridge and Mark Mouton of Lafayette gather at Angelle’s Old Fashion Burgers in Breaux Bridge for a jam session.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
“Come on guys,” Grover Angell said.
And that was enough.
They didn’t have to be perfect in tune or in perfect sync, all they had to do was spend their Saturday afternoons playing and singing at Angel’s Old Fashioned Burgers.
That’s all they wanted to do.
For 18 years, Angell has been drawing musicians to his Breaux Bridge restaurant with a simple invitation: a performance, a jam session, no playlist announced, open to all.
“Sometimes we have three musicians, sometimes we have seven,” Angel says, “It just changes with the seasons.”
JB Theriot plays guitar during a jam session Saturday at Angelle’s Old Fashion Burgers in Breaux Bridge.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
It doesn’t matter that the place is small and the musicians are huddled in a corner behind a round table: the music is real, and that alone is enough to justify stopping by between 2 and 5pm.
This is also the only time you can enjoy “the best burgers around” with the added flavor of local music.
Jam sessions can be more fun than concerts because they’re unscripted, plus anyone can join in and the music is played for the pure love of it.
Providing the evening’s delicious riffs are JB Theriot on guitar, George Ramphrey on accordion and Mark Mouton on sympathetic brass.
Never heard of resonator brass? Imagine a metal guitar with a round center. It’s designed to naturally amplify the sound of your instrument.
At the heart of this tradition is the threesome: when no one else will come, they will come.
George Lanfree plays accordion during Saturday’s jam session at Angel’s Old Fashioned Burgers in Breaux Bridge.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
Not for the money, because they don’t get paid, and not for the food that Angel prepares for them on jam day, although the food is excellent.
“We love to play,” Theriot says, “We’ve been here for about 10 years now, I think. We used to play across the street, but it closed down. Glover’s been here for over 20 years, so we talked to him and he asked us to bring our jams here, and that’s how we started playing.”
Theriot lives in Breaux Bridge and has built and operated the amplifiers onstage while traveling and playing with many famous Cajun musicians.
Like the rest of his jam group, he’s been working full-time jobs for years, doing music on the side, and when they sit down together they play their favorite songs.
There are traditional Cajun tunes, country songs, and if you listen closely, you might even hear a Bob Dylan tune.
Mark Mouton plays brass resonator during Saturday’s jam session at Angel’s Old Fashioned Burgers in Breaux Bridge.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
But on this day, the spotlight is on Lanfrey’s songs. Yes, he’s also a songwriter and a former school administrator in Dallas, but he’s also totally at home in Louisiana culture.
He also knows how to perfectly capture Louisiana legends and traditions in song.
“I’m going to play a song I wrote,” he tells the crowd, picking up his accordion. “It’s called ‘Voodoo Queen.'”
As he plays the intro, Theriot and Mouton click easily: they’ve performed this song before and are familiar with its nuances, especially its spicy, eerie atmosphere.
Restaurant regulars Kirk and Terry Dugas, a married couple from Lafayette who often stop in on Saturdays for burgers, express their affection with applause. They insist that the burgers are the best, made with meat that Angel grinds fresh daily.
Lafayette restaurant patron Kirk Dugas (left) sits with fellow musician regulars, including JB Theriot (right), during a Saturday jam session at Angel’s Old Fashioned Burgers in Breaux Bridge.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
These old-fashioned burgers are part of what gives Angelle’s such a great reputation.
But Kirk Dugas will be at the restaurant on Saturday for a different reason.
“I always bring my guitar,” he said. “I grew up around music. My brother and I played together. Sometimes I’ll join the jam sessions here, sometimes I won’t. But I always regret not bringing my guitar.”
Well, no regrets today. Dugas finished his burger, gathered up his courage, picked up his guitar, and walked over to the group, who quickly moved their chairs closer together to make room for him.
Meanwhile, older patrons and their friends stopped by to request songs. They were from Carencro, and like most residents of Southwest Louisiana, “Collinda” was a staple on their list of favorite songs.
Port Allen restaurant patrons Meta and Ray Stumbo clap along as musicians play “Colinda” during a Saturday jam session at Angel’s.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
Some call it a Cajun folk song with the refrain “Along the Dancer Corinda,” which tells the story of a young, pretty girl gathered at a dance. All the boys are competing to propose to her, but her chaperone mother always gets in the way.
Carencro’s patrons don’t dance, but they stand and smile through the song, this old music they grew up listening to, and it becomes a parting gift for them before they leave the restaurant and head home.
As soon as the doors closed, the jammers launched into another Lanfree song, “I Like Gumbo.”
“I like gumbo, too,” said Ray Stumbo, sitting at a table with his wife, Meta.
But gumbo isn’t on the menu of salads, sandwiches, burgers and Bayou Dog hot dogs at Angell’s, nor is it the reason the Stumbo family stopped by the restaurant on the way home to Port Allen.
They usually drive to Scott every three weeks to get their boudin and always stop at Angel’s on the way home. Why? Because they love burgers and bayou dogs, and they taste even better when serenaded by a jam session.
Local musicians JB Theriot, George Lanfrey and Mark Mouton perform Lanfrey’s song “Voodoo Queen” during their weekly Saturday jam session at Angel’s Old Fashioned Burgers in Breaux Bridge, La. Staff video by Robin Miller
Stumbo, a retired carpenter, has been working on his own music projects for the past three years and frequently plays at Baton Rouge venues, including Jolly Pearl Oyster Bar and Phil Brady’s Bar & Grill.
He’s brought his guitar to Ángel’s jam sessions in the past, but not this time. The afternoon was spent eating and listening to music.
Back in his corner, the musicians are taking a break, and Mouton holds up a brass resonator, explaining its parts and demonstrating how it works.
He lives in Lafayette where he worked as an attorney. He retired long ago.
“I call myself a recovering lawyer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rumphrey, a self-taught accordionist, begins to talk about how he bought an accordion from a famous accordionist and then repaired it.
Finally, Theriot took control of the conversation, recounting his past jobs, which included being an electrician, an oil field worker and working in a music store.
Restaurant owner Grover Angell (second from left) hangs out with local musicians (from left, JB Theriot, George Lanfree and Mark Mouton) during a Saturday jam session at Angell’s Old Fashioned Burgers in Breaux Bridge.
Staff photo: Robin Miller
“You know, some people come from Canada to play,” Angèle said later, “some from France, some from other states. They’ll come again when it’s cooler, but we don’t criticize here. There was a 90-year-old man who played harmonica in another place, but they wouldn’t let him play anymore because he wasn’t in tune with the others. I told him to come here, and he did. We don’t criticize here.”
Speaking of harmonicas, Rumfree also plays one, and as he looks on from his fellow musicians, he places the harmonica to his mouth and begins playing Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”
And if heaven offers up an Angel burger along with a chance to play at a jam session, Rumfree and his friends are already there.