Personnel: Michael Doucet (vocals, percussion); Michael Doucet (guitar, violin, fiddle); David Doucet (vocals, acoustic guitar); Natalie Merchant (vocals); Jim Weider (electric guitar, dobro); Bill Keith (banjo); Mitchell Reed (fiddle, acoustic bass, electric bass); John Sebastian (harmonica); Jimmy Breaux (accordion); Paul Antonell (recorder); Andy Stein (baritone saxophone); Roswell Rudd (trombone, background vocals); Garth Hudson (Hammond b-3 organ); Tommy Alesi (drum); Billy Ware (percussion); The Hudson Valley Boys, Happy & Artie Traum (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Paul Antonell.

Louisiana fiddler Michael Doucet has been championing the cause of traditional Cajun and Zydeco music as the leader of Beausoleil since the 1980s, and while he's sometimes led New Orleans music into new frontiers by mixing it with other styles, ALLIGATOR PURSE, the band's first album for the Yep Roc label, teems with pure Crescent City sounds. Traditional tunes like "Bosco Stomp" and "Rouler et Tourner" overflow with fulsome fiddling and pumping accordion. The furthest the band gets from its roots is a bluesy tune by J.J. Cale, and even when Natalie Merchant shows up for a guest vocal on "Little Darlin'," she doesn't disrupt the Big Easy feel.

Dirty Linen (pp.44-45) - "[T]he innovational approach, coupled with superb musicianship, are the elements that allow BeauSoleil to keep on enriching the repertoire, and the genre in general, even after 34 years in the business."