On March 4th (thanks to my good friend Dave Little) we went to the Bellville Church in Newburyport to hear C.J. Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band. C.J. is the son of Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier (think of what Bill Monroe is to Bluegrass music or Louis Armstrong to Jazz to understand Clifton’s role in Zydeco music). I told Dave, “I am not really that into Zydeco” when he asked if I was going to the show, to which he responded “I bought you tickets, you’re going.” Smart man, certainly not the first time I might have missed something truly great without his prompting! C.J. was fabulous, so much better than any zydeco I have ever heard, even in New Orleans, the show became a real epiphany for me. His band was razor sharp and you could not have slipped a piece of paper between the drummer and the bass player they were so tight. The smokin’ band and C.J.’s towering presence was all that was needed to keep the locals jumpin’ that cold winter night. Babysitting time limits caused my wife and me to leave a little early that night and we had a wonderful moment standing in the snowy street outside the church and listening to this great Louisiana party music blasting out of the open windows of the hot church. I closed my eyes and imagined myself back at the Rock n’ Bowl in New Orleans and it all seemed perfectly natural.
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