October 2001

From the Inside Out
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By Chris M. Slawecki

Much has been discussed about the relationship between Jazz and the titular city of its birth, New Orleans. However, there seems to be comparatively little exploration from Jazz circles into the music of the state in which New Orleans is found. This is surprising because the musical landscape of the state of Louisiana is easily as colorful, complicated and notorious as the history of Jazz, which is really saying something.

The depth and breadth of Louisiana’s music is sprawling and gigantic. The Crescent City is of course the legendary birthplace of Louis Armstrong and home to generations of the Marsalis clan. But Louisiana is also the birthplace of blues legend Leadbelly, composer of the American classics “Goodnight Irene” and “Midnight Special.” Rock & roll cornerstones Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino were from Louisiana; Little Richard cut his hottest sides with Guitar Slim’s band featuring New Orleans saxophone icons Lee Allen and Red Tyler. Plus, the host of New Orleans R&B musicians, especially pianists and pianist-vocalists, includes Huey “Piano” Smith, Lee Dorsey, Professor Longhair and Dr. John.

Cajun zydeco, a peculiarly piquant music bursting with rhythm and blues, also forms a large part of Louisiana’s musical landscape. In a recent article for “Time” magazine, Michael Walsh explained the genesis of the Cajuns who formed zydeco as born from the intermingling of French colonists, expelled by the British from Nova Scotia, with Creoles and African Americans when these colonists eventually settled in and around western Louisiana, a tale which seems similar in complexity and shadow to most accepted “birth of Jazz” theories.

Just as in Jazz, a new (and often second or third) generation of musicians is advancing and preserving the tradition by digging deep into zydeco’s roots and branching out into different musical forms. These artists include C. J. Chenier, son of Clifton Chenier, one of the founding fathers of zydeco; Sean Ardoin, whose lineage includes the first Creole musician ever recorded; and Terrance Simien, who has been at the forefront of a national petition to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to add Zydeco-Cajun as an official Grammy voting category under the existing Folk Music field. Chenier, Ardoin, and Simien all practice similar yet different modern strains of traditional zydeco. Their current music can remind Jazz listeners of a seemingly long-lost fact: Jazz was at least at one time popular dance music.

C. J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band: Step It Up!
“Living Blues” magazine has cited C. J. Chenier as “the best living zydeco singer and accordionist.” The son of “The King of Zydeco,” Clifton Chenier, C. J. Chenier had his musical coming out playing saxophone in his father’s troupe, The Red Hot Louisiana Band. At his father’s request, he began playing the accordion – the zydeco equivalent of rock & roll’s lead guitar – and as he grew became his father’s most reliable opening act. When the senior Chenier passed away in 1987, C.J. inherited both his father’s accordion and his Red Hot Louisiana Band.

On Step It Up!, Chenier supplements his Louisiana Band with trumpeter Marshall Cyr and tenor saxman Pat Breaux, a veteran of sessions with Cajun aces Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, creating a more full and powerful band sound as a result. And this band sounds like it can play almost anything: “The Right to Walk Away” and “The Power of Love” are ballads which echo from the seemingly lost early rock & roll era of slow-dances at the high school gym; “Road Dog” pounds out a roadhouse blues shuffle; and “It’s About Time,” sharply punctuated by blasts of horn, wiggles with a soulful strut that suggests Gary U.S. Bonds’ classic soul rocker “Three O’Clock Jump.” C.J. ends this set in tribute with a full-throttle raveup of his father’s frantic “Johnny Can’t Dance.” But it’s “Zydeco Mardi Gras” that’s the perfect introduction to Step It Up!, ‘cause it ain’t nothin’ but a party!

Sean Ardoin & ZydeKool: Pullin’
Sean’s great-great uncle Amedee Ardoin was the first Creole musician to be recorded, in 1929. His grandfather Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin recorded and performed traditional Creole music for six decades, during which time his father (Lawrence) and younger brother (Chris) performed and recorded, too. Pullin’ is Ardoin’s first release for Tomorrow Records, the label founded by Stanley “Buckwheat Zydeco” Dural. “Tomrrow Recordings is unique because it’s an artist-owned label,” he notes. “And that artist, Buckwheat Zydeco, is not only the biggest selling zydeco artist of all time, he’s also one of the genre’s greatest songwriters and performers.”

To Ardoin, blending different styles with traditional zydeco music doesn’t disrespect the tradition – it’s part of the tradition. “What we’ve always done is incorporate the popular musics of the day along with the French roots to create our zydeco,” he explains. “With my grandfather and them, it was the blues of the day. With Clifton Chenier and (Rockin’) Dopsie, it was R&B. With my dad and them, it was the Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding stuff. Buckwheat brought it all in and rock. Then when I started it was the Boyz II Men stuff. The direction I wanted to take it was the singing stuff, you know, the vocalists.”

One thing is certain: Sean Ardoin sure don’t play your grandpa’s zydeco. ZydeKool is an old-school R&B / soul review disguised as a zydeco band, and the music they play is riotous, reeling and rocking – party music for party people. “ZydeKool Rollin’” cops the intro to “Proud Mary,” that classic slab of smokin’ swamp funk, for its bridge, and rhythmically stabs with the “rude boy” dance rhythms of ska, too. The rapid-fire tempo and delivery of “New School / Old School” erupts like the opening salvo of “Johnny B. Goode”; likewise, the football cheer call-n-response in “Shut ‘Em Down” crackles with funky, punky energy. Ardoin’s cool, smoky vocal in the half-time intro to the ballad “Mama” echoes a Louisiana legend of a different type – the bayou’s version of Smokey Robinson, Aaron Neville.

Terrance Simien: The Tribute Sessions
After performing and recording for two decades, you can forgive Terrance Simien if he considers The Tribute Sessions his defining work. Its title is self-explanatory – “I’m taking this opportunity to pay tribute to some of my heroes through their own songs. Even though they’re no longer with us, their music will continue to inspire me, and generations to come.” Simien links together the songs with his own soft-spoken reveries about each artist. These are clever yet heartwarming and without artifice, sharing personal insights and experiences; Simien then threads each reverie together with soft strains of A.P. Carter’s country gospel “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” These moments add greatly to Sessions’ charm.

Simien and his band The Mallet Playboys honor fallen zydeco comrades, including Andrus “Beau Jocque” Espre (“Yesterday”) and Rockin’ Sidney (“My Toot Toot” and “If It’s Good for the Gander”). He bows twice toward C.J.’s father Clifton with the sadly beautiful “I’m Coming Home,” deep roots music full of pain and longing, and the extremely danceable “Zydeco Cha-Cha.”

But Simien also explores other styles and artists through the multicolored kaleidoscope of his zydeco perspective. “If I feel like including something reggae-flavored – or that has a New Orleans second-line or rock beat – I don’t see why I shouldn’t,” he explains. “New ingredients add new life.” So he waterglides through Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” a bubbly splash of soft, cool reggae bumped along by guitarist Glenn LeBlanc. Simien’s high, soft voice suggests not only Aaron Neville but also Sam Cooke, a longtime personal favorite who he honors with “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day.” (Simien could also be found this past summer opening several dates for popular rockers The Dave Matthews Band).

Simien even “crosses over,” from zydeco into country music. His accordion wails like a harmonica while his voice eerily echoes the original version of The Band’s haunting “It Makes No Difference.” And that thread of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” culminates in the final track, closing these Sessions and representing Simiens’ desire to honor and cherish the music of his heart and home.