About
C.J. Chenier has been dubbed "the crown prince of zydeco" by the Boston Globe, a fitting title for the son of Clifton Chenier who reigned as zydeco's king for more than 40 years.
A driving, accordion-led music with signature frottoir (rubboard) percussion and electric guitars, zydeco is a relatively modern sound-energetic and highly danceable-that emerged after the Second World War. Clifton Chenier is most often credited with creating modern zydeco by mixing Cajun and French Creole ("la la") dance music with blues, R&B, and rock and roll. Springing from the rich cultural mix of southwest Louisiana and East Texas, zydeco is said to take its name from the idiomatic title of a popular song, "Les Haricots [zydeco] Sont Pas Salé."
As a child growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, C.J. had little exposure to zydeco. His father lived in Lafayette, Louisiana, and was always on the road. He saw him a couple of times a year, but he rarely heard his music-in those days it didn't get any airplay and dance halls were out of bounds. C.J. started playing the piano in third grade and played the sax in the high school band, ending up with a music scholarship to Texas Southern University. In 1978, his father brought the 20-year-old saxophonist into the Red Hot Louisiana Band.
As his father's health worsened in the mid-1980s, C.J. took over more and more of the accordion duties. When Clifton died in 1987, C.J. took over the band, recalling this advice from his father: "All [he] really told me was to do the best I could do with my own style." In the thirty years since inheriting his father's band, C.J. has done just that, introducing audiences all over the world to his take on this rollicking, raucous music that fills up a dance floor.
C.J. will be joined by Brian Roshon on drums, Albert Stewart on frottoir, John Fredrick on bass, and Michael Malchione on guitar.