A very special Friday night show is being presented in celebration of the 100th birthday of the late Clifton Chenier.
It could truthfully be said that Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) brought zydeco to the world. Although the word “zydeco”, used to describe the music and dance of the French-speaking Black Creoles in Southwest Louisiana and Houston, TX, had been around since the early 1950s, few outside of that community had heard it. Chenier, the self-proclaimed “King of Zydeco”, took that music, a highly syncopated blend of what was once known as “LaLa” combined with contemporary R&B and Delta Blues influences, and gave it legitimacy as a genre when he recorded several hits on Specialty Records and later on Arhoolie, leading his Red Hot Louisana Band with the full, electrified sound of his piano accordion. Chenier is also credited with redesigning the crimped tin washboard into the vest frottoir, aka rub board or scrub board, an instrument that would easily hang from the shoulders and today is a key component of the zydeco sound.
Clifton Chenier began his recording career in 1954, and achieved his first national hit a year later. In 1983, he won a GRAMMY for his album I’m Here!, the first Grammy for his new label Alligator Records. He was the 2nd Louisiana Creole (following Queen Ida) to ever win a GRAMMY. In the 1980s, at the height of their popularity, Chenier and his band toured the world, bringing the joy of zydeco everywhere.
On Friday night, May 10, on the Festival Stage at Gator By the Bay, Clifton’s son CJ, a zydeco luminary in his own right, will lead a tribute to his late father in a celebration of Clifton’s upcoming 100th birthday. The show will feature a never-before-seen musical combo headlined by CJ Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band, joined by the great Sonny Landreth, dubbed the “King of Slydeco” for his highly skilled slide guitar technique, and blues and boogie-woogie legend Marcia Ball.
CJ says of his dad, “From my perspective, there would be no zydeco genre without my dad. He took what was called ‘French music’ and put some boogie, some blues, some Ray Charles in it, and called it zydeco. He was one of the first to put the piano accordion upfront, rather than playing the more common push button diatonic type.” CJ credits his dad with changing his life and making him the musician he is today. “In all honesty, if he hadn’t brought me out of Port Arthur, TX, where I grew up, and put me in the band, I’d probably still be stuck working in an oil refinery in Port Arthur, instead of traveling the world playing the music I love.”
Sonny was just in his 20s when Clifton invited him to join his band, and almost 50 years later, Sonny still still counts Chenier as one of his early mentors. In the deeply segregated South of the time, Sonny was the first white member to ever play in Clifton Chenier’s band.
Of Marcia Ball, CJ says “in the early ‘80s, our musical careers seemed to be very intertwined. We’d appear on a lot of the same bills, and there was a strong Austin (TX) connection. She loved my dad’s sound and would recommend him for gigs, and partly due to her influence, my dad’s band was the first act to play at Antone‘s, a soon-to-be-legendary blues club in Austin.
In addition to the Clifton Chenier Tribute on Friday night, each of the three artists will appear individually for their own sets on Saturday, May 11 at Gator By the Bay.
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