 February 2006 |
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 present ...a REAL ZYDECO LEGEND C.J. CHENIER and The Red Hot Louisiana Band Concerts in AUSTRIA... 03/23/2006 Braunau, AUSTRIA Gugg 03/24/2006 Velden, AUSTRIA Bluesiana Cafe 03/25/2006 Wien, AUSTRIA Akkordeon Fesitval 03/27/2006 Salzburg AUSTRIA Rockhouse Salzburg 03/29/2006 Bleiburg, AUSTRIA Altus Brauhaus 3/31/2006 Bruck, AUSTRIA Stadt Theater 04/01/2006 Freistadt, AUSTRIA Salzhof |
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Photo credit: George Balthazar
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Clayton Joseph CHENIER was born September 28, 1957 - the son of the great King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier. C.J.'s father was the first Creole musician to win a Grammy Award. C.J. spent his childhood in the tough tenement housing projects of Port Arthur, Texas. His earliest musical influences were an eclectic mix of funk, soul, jazz and Motown, and his first musical instruments were piano, tenor saxophone and flute. It wasn't until his 21st birthday, after winning a scholarship and studying music at Texas Southern University, that C.J. first performed with his famous father and the legendary Red Hot Louisiana band. On the road his father showed him how to front a world class touring band - teaching C.J. how to run the family business and how to develop his lifelong passion for music into a career. When Clifton died in 1987 his son adopted the Red Hot Louisiana Band and recorded his debut album for the great American independent label Arhoolie Records. As he told a journalist at the time, he does not try to imitate his father's playing: "I play it the way I play it. All my father really told me was to do the best I could do with my own style." In the following years C.J. would record albums Slash Records and the legendary Chicago label Alligator Records. When Paul Simon recorded his 1990 album Rhythm of the Saints, he handpicked C.J. Chenier to play accordion (alongside Ringo Starr on drums). In the autumn of 2005, just prior to recording his latest album "THE DESPERATE KINGDOM OF LOVE" for Harmonia Mundi's World Village label, the delta region of the United States was pummeled twice by vicious hurricanes that left much of Louisiana and large sections of C.J.'s hometown of Port Arthur, Texas decimated. In the aftermath of these floods - C.J. began writing and recording a collection of songs in a stark contrast to the upbeat nature of some of many his past recordings. |
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PRESS
LIVING BLUES "the best living Zydeco singer and accordionist" BILLBOARD "the heir to the Zydeco throne" BOSTON GLOBE "C.J. Chenier attacks the accordion with the tension and drive of James Brown" WASHINGTON POST "C.J. takes zydeco music into the R&B mainstream" BLUESART STUDIO "the finest, dynamic Zydeco, Blues and R&B accordion player today" |
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Photo credit: George Balthazar
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 CONTACT AUSTRIA  Agentur Weltenklang Dietmar Haslinger Franz Pichlerstrasse 34 A-3100 St.Pölten email: hasi@weltenklang.at Fon: 02742 75232 11 www.weltenklang.at |
Inspired by Bob Dylan's 1960's collaboration with The Band - C.J. Chenier sought out an existing working band to back him during these sessions. Rounder recording artists The Tarbox Ramblers fit the bill with a combination of tight musical camaraderie, from years of touring, and a deep knowledge of American roots music history. Augmented by session pianist Joe Deleault, the musicians quickly rehearsed and recorded these songs in the cavernous Room A of Boston's Q Division Studios in the autumn of 2005. Inspired by the 1950's Rudy Gelder jazz recordings for Blue Note, and Zydeco albums of Clifton Chenier, the songs were recorded live with everyone playing together in the studio with minimal overdubs. In essence this is C.J.Chenier's first solo album as a singer-songwriter. Harking back to the deep southern roots of Creole music - C.J. has recorded a collection of some of the most urgent and heartfelt songs of his career. He tapped deep into his father's songbook starting with the smitten sing-along hit Rosemary to the barbed wire blues of Ain't No Need of Cryin' (Everyday is the Same) and haunting Black Snake Blues. The southern gothic images of Hank Williams penned Lost on the River and the devastating P.J. Harvey ballad The Desperate Kingdom of Love complete the somber canvas - a metaphor of the recent carnage in New Orleans. But a C.J. Chenier recording, like a traditional New Orlean's funeral, would not be complete without a tremor of hope for the future and a few great dance tunes. C.J. composed several classic songs for the album including the plaintive I've Been Good To You Baby and the swinging mea culpa Who's Cheatin' Who?. One of the album highlights is the Fender Rhodes driven - Living To Learn. Sans accordion and rubboard, Living To Learn highlights C.J.'s sixties soul and Motown influences. "As a teenager I played the Fender Rhodes in a top 40 cover band, practicing Soul Ray Charles, and Motown songs for 10 hours a day" recalls C.J.". Next C.J. leads the entire band through a Clifton Chenier tune Bogalusa Boogie as a tribute to the late great Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Gatemouth had died just days after Hurricane Katrina decimated his home in southwest Louisiana. The album ends fittingly with Van Morrison's Comfort You, his great waltz-poem of healing and forgiveness, a fitting end to a stormy night. A self-described 'road dog' C.J. will be touring extensively in North America and Europe in 2006- 2007. |
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Select past performances: |
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P.O. Box 600099· Newtonville, MA 02460· USA
617-969-0810· Fax 617-969-6761 email: concerted@concertedefforts.com www.concertedefforts.com |
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Jon Stewart Show, SxSW, San Diego Street Scene Festival, Milwaukee's Summerfest, Calgary Folk Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Piazza Blues, Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, Kilkenny Festival, Meridien Hotel in Paris, Musique Metisse, Edmonton Blues Festival, Salmon Arm Festival, Kansas City Jazz and Blues Festival, Boston Folk Festival, Efes Pilsen Blues Festival in Turkey & Russia, Houston International Festival, Mountain Stage Radio, Lowell Folk Festival, Bern Jazz Festival, BB Kings, Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden Katrina Benefit, Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints album. |
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Discography: CD's only |
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1988 My Baby Don't Wear No Shoes (Arhoolie) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 My Baby Don't Wear No Shoes 02 I'm Coming Home 03 She's My Woman 04 Blue Flame Blues 05 Check Out The Zydeco 06 Harry's Big Mama Blues 07 Let Me In Your Heart 08 Bow-Legged Woman 09 Banana Man 10 I'm All Shook Up 11 Used And Abused 12 I'll Be Long Gone |
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1990 Hot Rod (Slash) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 I Feel All Right 02 Got My Eyes on You 03 It's a Shame 04 Zydeco Express 05 You're Still the King to Me 06 Before It's Too Late 07 Harmonica Zydeco 08 Your Time to Cry 09 Hot Rod 10 Old Fashioned Party 11 Jole Blon 12 Just the Beginning |
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1992 I Ain't No Playboy (Slash) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 I Ain't No Playboy (I'm a Real Man) |
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1995 Too Much Fun (Alligator) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 Man Smart, Woman Smarter 02 Bad Luck 03 Richest Man 04 Too Much Fun 05 Give Me Some Of That 06 Louisiana Down Home Blues 07 Zydeco Cha Cha 08 Lost In The Shuffle 09 Got You On My Mind 10) Squeaky Wheel 11) I'm Not Guilty 12) You Used To Call Me 13) Louisiana Two Step |
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1996 The Big Squeeze (Alligator) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 Au Contraire, Mon Frere 02 Don't You Just Know It 03 Have The Right 04 Mixed Up And Confused 05 Cheatin' On The Man You're Cheatin' With 06 Every Day I Have To Cry Some 07 I Can't Judge Nobody 08 Teddy Bear 09 The Moon Is Rising 10 Lion's Den 11 Part Time Woman 12 My Heart's Not Through Loving You 13 No Shoes Zydeco 14 Mon Cher 'Tite Bebe |
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2001 Step It Up! (Alligator) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band 01 Zydeghost 02 It's About Time 03 Everybody Needs a Little Monkey Business 04 Right Way to Walk 05 Coochie Coo Wi'chou 06 Eat More Crawfish 07 Let's Agree to Disagree 08 It's Alright 09 Road Dog 10 Power of Love 11 Zydeco Mardi Gras 12 Turn Around and Say Goodbye 13 Johnny Can't Dance |
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2003 DANCING TO NEW ORLEANS (New Video Group) Viewers have a pretty look what makes Louisiana’s rich musical heritage unique. Journeying from Shreveport through Baton Rouge to Acadiana and ending up in New Orleans, the film looks at how the people, culture and the land have nurtured Blues, Gospel, Cajun, Zydeco, Jazz and created sounds, that have forever impacted music and fans around the world. Performances by Buckwheat Zydeco, Raymond Myles, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, BeauSoleil, Lionel Ferbos, C.J. CHENIER, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, John Campbell, the Neville Brothers, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and many more. |
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2006 The Desperate Kingdom of Love (World Village/Harmonia Mundi) C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band release date March 2006 01 The Desperate Kingdom of Love (P.J. Harvey) 02 Black Snake Blues (Clifton Chenier) 03 I Been Good To You Baby (C.J. Chenier and Denise Labrie) 04 Learning To Live (C.J. Chenier and Denise Labrie) 05 Rosemary (Clifton Chenier) 06 Lost On The River (Hank Williams) 07 Who's Cheatin' Who? (C.J. Chenier and Denise Labrie) 08 Ain't No Need In Cryin' (Clifton Chenier) 09 Finger Lickin' Chicken (C.J. Chenier, Gerard Chenier and Chris Colbourn) 10 Bogalusa Boogie (Clifton Chenier) 11 Comfort You (Van Morrison) |
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BluesArtStudio thanks for the fine cooperation with Chris Colbourn. |
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Worldcopyright © 1998-2006 BluesArtStudio, AUSTRIA - USA
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