Zane Hogue for KLFI Daily Digest shares amazing news about accordionist Jeffery Broussard. If you have not already seen “Sinners” I highly recommend the movie. The movie entertains and educates on many levels. Happily, the accordion playing Jeffery Broussard is a genuine part of the music contributing authenticity to the music of the times.
Louisiana musicians Tony Davoren and Jeffery Broussard are included in the film “Sinners,” which recently won two Academy Awards. The movie received the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score.
The collaboration began when composer Ludwig Goransson contacted Davoren to arrange two songs for the film’s soundtrack that featured local musicians and a choir.
Davoren, an Acadiana musician, received a phone call from composer Ludwig Goransson to arrange two specific tracks for the film. One of the featured pieces is titled “Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go.” “And the first song was “Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go”. And then the last one was a song that was my dad’s favorite song,” Davoren said. “He had a band and a club called The Rocky Road.”
To complete the arrangements, Davoren recruited Jeffery Broussard, a musician and accordionist from Opelousas. Broussard’s wife encouraged him to join the project, though the role required him to change his physical appearance. “She said, Look at it. She said, That’s a blessing from God,” Broussard said. “And the only scary part was for me, when the lady called and said I had to do a clean shave.” Davoren noted that the accordionist followed through with the request despite his reservations. “He showed up with his beard gone. He was not happy,” Davoren said.
Beyond the visual change, Broussard had to adjust his technical approach to the accordion for the film’s music.
“A lot of stuff that I play, I’m always pulling out. This was pushing it, but I figured it out,” Broussard said.The production involved a choir in New Orleans and a team of musicians from Baton Rouge, Austin and other areas.
Broussard and several cast members filmed a musical sequence that resulted in a brief appearance in the final version of the movie. “As it turned out, they only had 3 hours in that night to get that shooting done, maybe 4 hours max. So that scene was shot in 4 hours,” Davoren said. “So, there’s a lot going on and it’s all for 90 seconds of a clip.”
Davoren said the involvement of so many Louisiana natives is a testament to the talent in the region. “Louisiana should be proud because everyone in this movie that’s from Louisiana did a great job with very little information, very little rehearsal. And very little practice,” Davoren said. “Just knocked it out of the park.”
