The most wonderful thing about this melting pot concept that people have of America is that, if you dig around in the pot a little bit, you find chunks that didn't quite melt their way into averageness. They're a little strange. A whole lot meatier, and definitely zestier. Louisiana is one of those chunks. It's a place where the food is beyond sublime, and the cities give birth to jazz while the outlying swamps give birth to zydeco.

When I hear zydeco, I hunger for a big bowl of shrimp gumbo and a plate of jambalaya, washed down with quite a few chilly Abita beers as I sit on the deck by the bayou, trying to stay within the blast zone of the swamp cooler even as the music heats up the mood. Zydeco is party music, and while I've heard that folks like dancing to it on a Saturday night, it's really Sunday afternoon hoe downs where I think the music truly struts its stuff.

There are almost as many great zydeco musicians in southwest Lousiana as there are gators and water moccasins. Yet, for some reason, zydeco has never become a widely known or appreciated musical style. Outside of Louisiana, you don't hear it that much. Inside Louisiana, names like Buckwheat Zydeco are household words.


A Little Bit About Buckwheat Zydeco...
Buckwheat Zydeco has been around the block a few times, as a funk and R&B artist who blossomed into a zydeco master during his period as organ player for Clifton Chenier --- arguably the greatest zydeco musician there ever was.

Buckwheat Zydeco brings an energy to the zydeco style. Some tracks show uncanny devotion to time-honored traditions and roots with heavy doses of southern blues, while others pop with influences of soul and R&B. Probably the biggest reason I like Buckwheat Zydeco's Jackpot album is because you can hear all of these influences coming together in one spicy and flavorful package --- it's a veritable jambalaya for the ears!


What Makes Jackpot Such a Great Album...
I really hit the jackpot when I bought Jackpot....this album is essentially an hour-long swamp rock house party with high voltage energy from the first note of the first track all the way through the last mournful wail of the closing track. There's not a loser nor a snoozer in the bunch!

And while every song is guaranteed to get folks up out of their chairs and swaying those hips to some great accordian riffs, there's a ton of variety to keep the aural interest levels up.

If it's raw, untamed energy that you like, tune in to Rock, Boogie, and Shout and Come and Get Yourself Some just as an appetizer for even meatier things to come. Rock, Boogie, and Shout, like any good zydeco tune, let's the accordian lay down the basis for everything else, but it's also a track that has moments of brilliant guitar slides and pulsing drums.

Come and Get Yourself Some is the kind of track that I want to play at 5pm on a Friday afternoon --- it's a track that tunes up the energy and sets the mood for a party, party weekend. The funky accordian groove sets a mood that's just made for lyrics exhorting folks to "Kick off your shoes and let your hair down, We're starting the party! Ain't no time to mess around!" A great party anthem!

Turning the volume back just a notch and tuning the energy level down to merely "hyperactive", are a couple of those "roots style" zydeco tracks that I alluded to earlier. Old Times La La resonates with mellow good times and family get togethers. I close my eyes and I can just feel myself transported to a rickety deck on the shores of the bayou, waters lapping underneath as the smells of spicy shrimp gumbos waft my way.

Somewhere in between is the moody romanticism of Jackpot with lyrics of love and a beat of boogie.

If you're looking for the blues influences, look no further than the soulful mourning wails on You Lookin' for Me. The vocals are pure Mississippi Delta, but that rolling drum line in the background and the dash of horns pick up the mood and carry it on an oddly joyous sounding raft of wicked accordian riffs.

The last three tunes are a simply stunning trilogy of pure blues with just a dash of cajun spice to them. If it don't have accordians, it ain't zydeco. Well, none of these last three tunes has any accordian --- it's all centered around Buckwheat's brilliant hands on the Hammond organ (which was his forte back in his Clifton Chenier days --- before he learned to play accordian). The three tunes work together, telling a story and setting a mood: Buck's Going Downtown, Buck's Going Uptown, Buck's Going to Frenchtown.

That Buck! He sure does get around! And lucky for us, he takes us with him for what has to be a good 15-minute long jam session of solid blues, before it slyly shifts and morphs on us during Buck's Going to Frenchtown, which packs an unexpected reggae punch. In Buck's Going to Frenchtown, the beat changes and the mood changes, and Buck trades in his afro for dreadlocks as he chants the lyrics in true Bob Marley style --- in fact, the whole mood and sound of this track is reminiscent of Marley's classic tune, One Love. I'd bet Buck a buck that One Love was on his turntable when he penned Buck's Going to Frenchtown....


Bottom Line...
It boogies, it sways, it rocks, it moves. There's even a smattering of creole French lyrics (not that I could ever understand that bizarre patois). This album is an outstanding slice of zydeco....it's a taste of the kind of spice that makes southwest Louisiana such a unique place. Great zydeco. Great artist. Great times on the bayou! Give it a listen...


Trackin' the Tracks...
Twelve tracks, every one of 'em a classic! Here's what's up....

1. I'm Gonna Love You Anyway
2. It Must Be Magic
3. Rock, Boogie, Shout
4. Jackpot!
5. Come and get Yourself Some
6. Old Times La La
7. Come Back Home Baby
8. Changes
9. You Lookin' For Me?
10. Buck's Going Downtown
11. Buck's Going Uptown
12. Buck's Going to Frenchtown







Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends