Pop : Marcia Ball, Beau Jocque Add Zing to Zydeco Festival

It wasn’t broken, but organizers of the annual Southern California Cajun & Zydeco Festival in Long Beach nonetheless managed to fix it by throwing a couple of new spices into this year’s recipe.

Opening its two-day run Saturday in Rainbow Lagoon, New Orleans-bred pianist and singer Marcia Ball became the first non-Cajun or zydeco act in the event’s nine-year existence. While her blues and R&B-laced; music technically doesn’t fit with the title, its rollicking spirit and unmistakable regional roots were entirely appropriate to an event designed to celebrate the music of Southwest Louisiana.

Over the years, Ball’s voice has grown deeper and duskier, which helped her bring a palpable ache to a bluesy ballad such as her own “Find Another Fool.”

On upbeat tunes built on infectious street-parade rhythms, she proved again that no one is doing a better job of carrying on the tradition of such Crescent City piano greats as Professor Longhair and James Booker.

The show ended with the day’s other first-timer, Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, who used granite-solid funk, rich soul and even a dollop of hip-hop rhythms in finding a new take on this younger, blues-based sibling of Cajun music.

The additions of Ball and Beau Jocque made for a nicely varied lineup that already was well-spiced by the uncommonly graceful Cajun and zydeco of Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, the tradition-minded zydeco of Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie and the punchy playing of the Southland-based Brand-New Old-Time Cajun Band.