The late zydeco king, accordionist Clifton Chenier, took to the road over 35 years ago as the first artist to introduce the rest of the world to the wonders of zydeco music and dancing. Since then people have been two-stepping to the likes of Buckwheat Zydeco and Boozoo Chavis and have been further exposed to the music in films and commercials. Yet most people have little knowledge of the culture and traditions of the music and its purveyors. Repeatedly it is asked, “What is the difference between Cajun and zydeco music? Michael Tisserand answers that question and many others in this, remarkably, the first book to fully document zydeco. Tisserand goes to the sources- the musicians, club owners, radio stations-in Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, exploring the history of zydeco through both research and conversation. He moves from the early works of artists like Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, bringing it all up to date to include the hot new sounds from accordionists like Beau Jocque and Keith Frank. “The Kingdom of Zydeco” is more than a book about music, it is about the of a culture of the people, of the families and the importance of music in their lives.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro