Monday, December 19, 2011

C.J. Chenier, "Can't Sit Down": Zydeco for Today


It's all very simple. C.J. Chenier takes the zydeco tradition exemplified by his famous father Clifton and puts it in a contemporary rock-blues-R&B orbit. You can hear it in his new album Can't Sit Down (World Village 468109).

C.J. has a great, soulful blues-rock voice, he plays the accordion in his own uplifting, bluesy zydeco way (and that's of course essential to what he does) and he has a good rocking band that gets things moving.

He does classics his own way, like the title cut or "Baby Please Don't Go" and he turns them around as he sees fit. He hits on classic zydeco with a C. J inflection. And he musters together some rootsy originals. Tom Wait's "Clap Hands" never sounded so good (outside of Tom doing it of course).

This is hot stuff!! Just don't miss it because you'll miss a great time and genuine artistry. C. J. has it all locked in!

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