Here's a review of the Little Red & the Renegades Mardi Gras gig at Glen Echo that appeared in the Howard County Times:

A bit of the bayou

J. Paul Jr. & The Zydeco Nubreedz

I don't hear too much about this guy and that's a shame 'cause he's really got something different going on. I only have one CD of J. Paul's called Phenomenon, and I had to special order that. Zydeco Fred (WPFW in D.C., 89.3 FM, Fridays at noon) plays some J. Paul stuff on his show, though. Some of it's a bit too urban contemporary for me, but this band can get down. And they have really great vocal harmonies on a lot of their stuff. J. Paul plays a one-row accordion from what I can gather, and he also is a drummer. The rhythm section on the J. Paul stuff I've heard is a lot smoother than Beau Jocque's or Boozoo's. Not as raw, a lot more polite and more polished, but that doesn't mean they can't get that hypnotic groove going. They certainly do. Just a different kind of sound. Maybe 'cause these guys are from Houston, not Louisiana. And they're Baptists, not Catholics like most of the Louisiana Creoles. Check him out.

Beau Jocque

I fully expected to not like Beau Jocque after hearing people's descriptions of him. When I actually did hear him for the first time, live by the way, I immediately became a fan. In fact, I drove two hours to hear him again the next night. You cannot go wrong with any Beau Jocque CD that has Skeeter on drums, Chuckie on bass, and Caveman on rubboard. The synergy between Beau Jocque and Skeeter –the whole band really--was infectious. It's hard for me to recommend one or two CD's in particular. I really think they're all great. It doesn't hurt that Beau Jocque had an affinity for 70's soul stuff either. Of course his take on it was considerably harder than the originals were. I guess Skeeter was responsible for bringing in the rap elements. A really great band. Some of the Santana-ish guitar solos don't do a lot for me, but the rhythm section is so strong, they could put a theramin on top of it and it'd still kick butt. PAAARRRTY.

Boozoo Chavis

Boozoo put out some records in the 50's at the same time Chenier's earliest 45's were released. Boozoo's stuff never made it outside of Louisiana, though. His big hit back then was Paper in my Shoe, which became a zydeco staple, although that original recording doesn't do it for me. Much better is Forty-one Days from those sessions. Boozoo's 50's recordings were released on an album called Louisiana Atomic Bomb or something like that. For completists I would say.

When Boozoo started recording again in the 80's, he really got his act together with a band that was on the same page with him. And why not, since half the band was his sons. Zydeco Trail Ride on Maison de Soul is a fine package from this period. But, Boozoo just kept getting better. The CD called Boozoo Chavis on American Explorer is great, as are every one I've heard on Rounder. Live at the Habibi Temple, Hey Do Right, and Down Home On Dog Hill are all strong and are fine examples of where the kind of zydeco that is popular today came from. Boozoo was really responsible for the resurgence of butt-kicker zydeco. One or two chord rides, chord changes when he felt like it, lots of songs about his horses and Dog Hill. To me this style of zydeco is much more raw and primitive than the Clifton Chenier/Buckwheat style. At the same time it can be way more modern sounding too. Which will bring us to next week's pick: Beau Jocque.

Rockin' Dopsie: Doin' The Zydeco, Sonet 718

I think this was Dupsie's (spell it anyway you wanna, but this is how he pronounced it) first full-length album and it's an English release. Strong stuff. Very funky, driving blues, zydeco, and rockers. A really electric sound. I never heard Dupsie play with this particular band in it's entirety, and I wish I had because these guys kicked booty. Dupsie always had a good band, and when he got his sons playing scrub board and drums, they kicked booty, too.

Who's Lovin' You Tonight is the Jimmy Rogers song, That's All Right. Solid blues. Ma Negresse is Dupsie's take on Nathan Abshire's Pine Grove Blues, and boy does it kick! (Pine Grove Blues is the perfect comeback to "white guys can't sing the blues", by the way). If you don't like hard driving rhythms where the chord changes happen when they get around to it, stay away from this. I think Chester Zeno, the rubboard player, actually got inside the mike on this one. Please Come Home is a typical South Louisiana swamp-pop two chord ballad. You know, so simple no one can play it outside of Louisiana or Texas. (Except for Les Pachas, the Haitian Compas Direct band, but that's another story.) Sweet. Jolie Blonde is one of the better versions of that song. Doin' The Zydeco closes out side one. Accordion, rubboard and drums. Now we're talkin'. Kick-butt zydeco.

Side two starts with Jump Up, which is a terrific version of Scratch My Back. Then comes Rock Me Baby. Another solid blues. One thing that really struck me when I got to Louisiana is that the blues wasn't some museum piece there, like it seemed to be in most of the country. It was real, down and dirty dance music, and Dupsie always played the blues for real. Up next is Josephine, a staple of Dupsie's and every other Zydeco band back in the 70's. Then comes Good Old Mamou, a nice cajun waltz. The LP closes out with Please Don't Leave Me, the great Fats Domino song. It does not sound like Fats. You should hear it.
Another great Dupsie album is Crowned Prince of Zydeco on Maison de Soul. On this recording Dupsie had two members of Chenier's Red Hot Louisiana Band, Paul "Little Buck" Senegal on guitar, and John Hart on sax. His sons Tiger and David were on drums and rubboard. Senegal is one of my favorite guitar players and for some reason he always reminds me of my cousin Marcello. The rhythm section is faultless as usual. Good stuff. More blues than zydeco, but who cares? Most of this album was re-released on a Maison de Soul CD called Saturday Night Zydeco, along with half of the album of the same name, but the CD doesn't have Hey, Hey, Hey. Too bad.

Clifton Chenier: Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, Arhoolie F1024

I won't go into a history of zydeco. If you made it this far you probably know what zydeco is, and if you don't, there are a lot of internet sites that will tell you. Clifton Chenier is the king of zydeco. He didn't make it out of thin air, but he is responsible for popularizing it.

If you are a zydeco fan and you're not hip to this album, you need to get ahold of Clifton Chenier's first Arhoolie LP, Lousiana Blues and Zydeco. I had pretty much quit playing the accordion and was playing guitar and harp when I found this LP at the Record Runner in Syracuse, NY in the mid-60's. I had to buy it to see how anyone could play blues on the accordion. I loved the instrument, but I couldn't imagine playing Muddy or Wolf on the accordion. Well, let me tell you, it was quite a shock. I remember thinking "I can do that." I'm still trying.

Back to the album. One side is with a full band of accordion, scrub board, bass, guitar, piano & drums. The French side is just Cliff, his brother Cleveland on scrub board, and a drummer. What a rockin' band! Both sides. I won't give you a track by track breakdown, but believe me, this is a killer record. There's no fluff or filler. It's been re-released on CD with some extra cuts, but the CD has an alternate take of Hot Rod. The original vinyl version of Hot Rod cooks! It's worth the effort to track it down on LP or 45. The version on the CD is good, but the vinyl version just won't quit. Nobody plays guitar like that either. Anyway, for me, this album is pretty much the cornerstone of modern zydeco. Even if you're a fan of the Boozoo/Beau Jocque school of zydeco more than the piano accordion stuff, the roots of that style is here on side 2. This LP has got it all.

Chenier didn't put out any bad records, but some of my favorites are Bon Ton Roulet, Bogalusa Boogie, and Red Hot Band, all on Arhoolie, and I'm Here on Alligator. Any of Cliff's records with Jumpin' Joe Bruchet on bass and Robert Peter (St. Julien) on drums are gonna be good. Most of the earlier stuff by Cliff is more in the blues/R&B vein. It's all good, but I know some people think zydeco is only waltzes and two-steps, so I'm just telling you in advance you won't hear the Boozoo/Beau Jocque beats on Chenier's early records. What you'll hear is great blues. If you don't dig blues, well, sorry. Probably time to find another website.

Little Red's Picks, Number 2 will be on Rockin' Dopsie... check back soon!