Zydeco

The CD wallet cover invites: "Travel with us to Southwest Louisiana for an unforgettable musical adventure"... and that is just what the CD provides. I love the energy and sincerity of lyrics and performance found in top-level Zydeco music. The people at Putumayo have collected eleven signature performances by different Zydeco stars. Each cut is accompanied by a useful photograph of the artist, a brief overview of their work, including their place in Zydeco musical culture. Top stars for this information--a guide to our Louisiana tour. Collectors or just curious folk will appreciate having access to this learning.Most of us will just listen to the music. Some of us will already have a cut or two from here on first release albums by these musicians. One caveat: this is not the 'bush' Zydeco as rendered by semi-professional local bands; these are the 'giants' of the business and their work features polished musicianship and wider musical knowledge. I really like Buckwheat Zydeco. Putumayo offers 'I'm On A Wonder', a bluesy Zydeco with a powerful Buckwheat vocal. Boozoo Chavez and the Magic Sounds offer the amusing but pointed 'Lula, Lula Don't You Go To Bingo." In other words, each cut here is a gem and yet there is so much variety that the whole CD does not ever begin to sound alike. Absent here are bands like the Balfa Brothers but 'outsiders' will be introduced to The Creole Zydeco Farmers, Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band (Ca Fa, a great vocal and accordion number), Rosie Ledet (a gutsy bluesy "You're No Good For Me"); Beau Jocque and the Zydeco High Rollers ('What You Gonna Do'--showing his vocal prowess.) Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas offer 'I'm In Love', just one of their well-known numbers. Gene Delafose and French Rockin Boogie offer a swinging 'Bye Bye Mon Neg', a tradition-steeped Creole Zydeco. The tracks conclude with Chris Ardoin and his reggae influenced 'Stay In Or Stay Out.' There is not a single lame selection on this disc and I believe it will please a very wide audience of music lovers who are seeking adventure.Please note that my version of this CD did not include two cuts listed by the publisher: No. 6--Burning Flames Special and No. 12--'Hoochie Coochie' by Joe KK and Zydeco Force. I would have liked to listen to them, too but what is there is all worth five stars.

I wasn't exposed to much music as a kid and so I am sadly lacking in appreciation for many kinds of music. I don't want my kids to be the same way, especially since my oldest seems to have an affinity for music. In my quest to expose them to as many different types of music as early as possible, I scoured Amazon for the highest rated CDs. I came across this one and bought it because everyone absolutely raved about it. I don't know that I had ever heard a Zydeco song before I purchased this CD. However, it is now one of my favorites. I don't know any of the artists and I can't comment on that aspect of it. However, I can tell you that every time this CD is on, my toes start tapping. There isn't a song on it that I don't enjoy. Both of my kids start boogieing around the house and my 2-year-old picks up his instruments and tries to play along. It's great fun and given a choice of different CDs to listen to, my kids almost always choose this one over more "kid-friendly" ones. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who is interested in hearing some Zydeco but doesn't know enough about it to know what they want. The money I spent on this CD is the best investment I have made in music in a long time.

Not really my favorite type of music. Am more into jazz, Latin, and opera but very well done.

My mom loves New Orleans so i made her a Cajun gift basket and this was one of the items in it, she loves it!

I first heard the music on this CD while I was out of town and wished I had purchased it at the store where it was playing. I didn't. I kept thinking about the music and how good it made me feel. When I got back home, I looked up zydeco music on Amazon.com and found it! I ordered it immediately. I love this music. It has a very happy feel to it even though the words of the songs don't always reflect happiness. The music itself it happy and upbeat. I really reccomment this CD to anyone who is a fan on good upbeat music.

Living in SE Texas there are often times when I hear a bit of Zydeco during festivals but I haven't ever had any real exposure to it. Not long ago I was looking for some new music to liven things up in the studio and I ordered Putumayo's "Zydeco". It is the best music I've ever found to play while I'm working. Each song complements the last and keeps me energized as I spend the day working on my own art. While some are a bit slower than others it never slows it down so much that I loose my working Rhythm.

Found out that a friend loved this kind of music and could not even identify the genre. I knew it was Zydeco. Searched for just the right CD to start her collection...read the reviews and the list of songs on Amazon for this CD and this was the perfect "first" for her. It had all the classics. She called me when she got it (practically the next day!!!) you can't beat the speed and accuracy of the Amazon shipping department and raved and raved about her gift that I sent her as a "thank you for your hospitality" gift.

Love this music. Great selection of Zydeco greats.

An unusual blend of recordings from Louisiana, USA of dance music of the black Creole people featuring accordion an rhythm instrumentation. A nice blend of different artistes provide a good overview of this music little known outside of the USA. Recommended.

AS the informative sleeve notes (nice packaging BTW)tell us, Zedeco changes, incorporating other musical influences, as shown by this wide-ranging selection of artists on the modern zydeco scene. So blues-. soul-, reggae- influenced.Mostly laid-back rather than the more frenetic energetic zydeco I've heard before. I think I prefer that slightly older (??? purer) zydeco, but this is very good.

I bought this cd after borrowing a copy from the library. I guess I will have to check song lists in the future as they took my favourite song off. Not impressed.

Everything I hoped for. A good cd with good mix of zydeco music. Some brilliant artists included and something different from the everyday music we hear. I recommend it. A very uplifting cd.

Bien !