Published on Jan 12, 1999
It’s freezing here in Chicago. We were hit with our second-worst
snowfall ever last week, and as I look out the window (at least
what I can still see through), another couple of inches of the cold
white stuff is falling. I can only wear so many sweaters before I
get tired of them, and my prized sweatshirt from “The Score” is in
need of a serious washing. (Thanks, Susan D. – I haven’t
forgotten.) I’m down to my last packet of Swiss Miss, and I need
something to seriously warm me up.
Thank you, Buckwheat Zydeco, for being in the right place at the
right time. Stanley Dural, Jr. and company have been playing this
spicy Southern music for years, and their latest release
Trouble is just the thing needed to warm the blood at this
time of year. While zydeco is an acquired taste, after a few
listens to this disc, you’ll discover there’s a party going on
every time you pop this disc into the stereo.
Zydeco could be described in a sense as a Louisiana version of
the blues – namely, it’s a very emotionally charged form of music
that has a certain rhythmic pattern to it (though I’d stop at
comparing it to the 12-bar pattern best known in the blues). But
while the blues can bring out both the strongest highs and deepest
lows in a person, the prime aim of zydeco is to celebrate life,
something Dural and company do extraordinarily well.
The opening track, “Put It In The Pocket,” exemplifies this
upbeat feeling; you can almost see Dural on the accordion and
Hammond attacking the music with gusto. (All the other members of
Buckwheat Zydeco also put a lot of feeling into their performances,
and while I won’t go into a “grocery list” of the other musicians,
they all deserve pats on the back.) The only complaint I have with
this particular track is I wish there had been more lyrical
development; the same basic phrase is repeated throughout the
song.
However, Dural and crew prove that
Trouble is not the ideal title for this disc as they plow
through the remaining nine songs almost effortlessly, as if you had
walked in on a shrimp bake in the middle of the party. From the
French-tinged “Allons A Boucherie” to the all-out rollicking
numbers like “Trouble” and “Hard To Stop,” Buckwheat Zydeco
successfully show that zydeco is a genre of music whose potential
has yet to be tapped. (Paul Simon tried to bring attention to it
via a cut on Graceland.)
Even to the point where Robert Johnson’s blues classic
“Crossroads” is covered, Dural and company make a strong case for
zydeco to gain wider commercial attention. And for an album that
almost never saw the light of day due to problems with his former
label, I’d say the case is almost air-tight in favor of Buckwheat
Zydeco.
But this is a form of music that you have to spend some time
with in order to appreciate fully, and I wonder if many listeners
would have the kind of time required to dedicate towards
Trouble. Sure, you can enjoy the album on a more simplistic
level after only one listen – but I guess that would be like eating
only one shrimp at the party when there’s plenty more to enjoy.
Trouble is the strongest argument yet that Buckwheat Zydeco
have made to become the leaders in their musical field. Here’s
hoping that they gain a wider audience with this one – and that
some people will be willing to take a chance on this
mini-party.