Acting Accordionly : Fiddler-Singer Tom Sauber Loves Cajun Music, and His 12-Year-Old Son Happily Plays Along

The musical generation gap has existed ever since the first Cro-Magnon teen-ager griped about his Neanderthal father’s prehistoric tastes.

So on the surface, 12-year-old Patrick Sauber’s quip about the tape his father had popped into their car’s cassette player was right in line with tradition. The comment itself, however, was anything but typical of today’s grunge-loving kid whining about his dad’s classic-rock fixation.

“The only reason we listen to Cajun tapes in the car is because we don’t have any cassettes of Civil War songs,” Patrick said, only half-joking.

His father, fiddler-banjo-player-guitarist-singer Tom Sauber, just laughed. When it comes to music, in reality these two are in perfect harmony. Figuratively and literally.

Tom Sauber, who plays tonight in Anaheim as part of Living Tradition’s ongoing folk-music series at Ball Junior High School, brought Patrick along to a recent interview during which they discussed the affinity they share for Cajun music.

Tom Sauber has been fiddling in Southland Cajun bands for nearly a decade. In just two years, Patrick has become an accomplished practitioner of the Cajun diatonic button accordion. He found himself drawn to the instrument while watching his father play in such groups as the Louisiana Cajun Trio and the Brand-New Old-Time Cajun Band. Patrick quickly joined the latter group as its triangle player. Tom Sauber also plays bluegrass regularly as a member of the Coyote Brothers.

Sipping sodas at the home of Orange County folk-music promoter and player Carolyn Russell, the Saubers were as down to Earth as the traditional styles of music they love, virtually to the exclusion of all forms of pop music.

Ask Patrick whether he likes Nirvana better than Pearl Jam and he’ll quickly tell you he never listens to either. “Just Cajun and Civil War songs,” he said.

But force him to choose between Iry LeJeune, the great Cajun accordionist who revitalized that music after World War II, or his son, Eddie LeJeune, and Patrick gets the same panicky look his father’s peers would if asked whether they like the Beatles or the Stones better.

“I guess I like them both the same. And Nathan Abshire is great. I heard some Clifton Chenier tapes. That makes me want to learn some zydeco,” Patrick said, referring to the R & B-influenced Creole counterpart to Cajun music.

Clearly, this is one kid who was born in the wrong time or place. Maybe both.

Yet he says he gets no taunting from his friends about being an accordion hound. Part of that is because he and his dad have performed for his classmates. So Patrick’s peers have learned firsthand that the bittersweet songs with the peppery rhythms that constitute Cajun music are a world removed from the nerdy stereotype of accordion music and accordionists perpetuated by the Steve Urkel character on ABC’s “Family Matters.”

“Once you hear this stuff, you can’t help but like it,” Tom Sauber said. “Also, I don’t think the kids of his generation carry a lot of the same baggage about accordions and accordion music that we did.”

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It’s a safe bet that Patrick is the finest 12-year-old Cajun-accordion player in affluent San Marino, where the family lives, if not in Southern California. If that sounds akin to calling Sammy Davis the greatest one-eyed, black Jewish Republican song-and-dance man, it shouldn’t obscure the fact that Patrick is an excellent musician.

To prove it, Patrick pulled his accordion out of its case while Tom broke out his guitar, and they zipped through several of the 40 to 45 traditional Cajun tunes Patrick estimates are now in his repertoire.

From bouncy two-steps such as “Grand Mamou” and “The Eunice Two-Stop” to such graceful waltzes as “Bayou Teche” and “Little Black Eyes,” Patrick’s fingers skittered over his instrument’s 10 buttons like a daddy longlegs at a fire walk.

While he had to pause between songs and weigh his father’s question about which LeJeune he favored, Patrick didn’t so much as blink when asked if reaching his current level of proficiency has been more like work or fun.

“It’s always fun,” Patrick said with a smile that made the freckles on his cheeks dance. His only criteria for learning new material is “If I like it, I try it.”

Added Tom, with obvious pride: “You can’t make anybody play music--not and have it come out sounding like that.”

Along with Patrick’s mother, Chessie, they have played together as the Sauber Family. (Patrick’s older sister, Hannah, is a flutist following the classical track. A member of the Pasadena Youth Symphony, she is on a brief concert tour in Australia--like every little brother, Patrick moaned that his sister wouldn’t be away from home longer.)

Tom Sauber--a San Gabriel Valley native who started playing folk music at age 15 after hearing Pete Seeger at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the early ‘60s--said he has no intention of trying to exploit the obvious novelty of a young kid from the Golden State who plays the music of a people and a place that couldn’t be much further removed.

“I don’t want to push it,” said Tom, a member of Cajun accordionist Jo-El Sonnier’s band before he turned into a country star. “There are plenty of chances for us to play together at dances and festivals. (Creole accordionist) Joe Simien gave me a great piece of advice: ‘Let them have fun.’ ”

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To all outward appearances, Patrick is having fun as he talks about the times he has sat in and hung out with old and young Louisiana musicians including Simien, D.L. Menard, Steve Riley and Charles Boulet.

There seems to be little stage-parent pressure on him.

“There is no agenda or schedule for this,” Tom Sauber said. “But I think he’s going to be at this for a while.”

Patrick will attend today’s performance, which aims to focus on Tom Sauber’s bluegrass, folk and cowboy music. But they promise to play together on at least a few Cajun tunes.

Like most everything else about their music-making, Tom Sauber said he’ll be playing it by ear in deciding which style of music to emphasize.

“Usually these seem to be more sit-down affairs. But if a lot of people seem to want to dance, then we’ll probably bring out more of the Cajun tunes.”

* Tom Sauber plays tonight at Ball Junior High School cafeteria, 1500 Ball Road, Anaheim. 8 p.m. $9. Presented by the Living Tradition. (714) 638-1466. Hear Tom Sauber

* To hear a sample of the song “Rosalee McFall,” call TimesLine at 808-8463 and press *5580.

* Details on Times electronic services, A5