C. J. Chenier (born Clayton Joseph Thompson, September 28, 1957 in Port Arthur, Texas) is the Creole son of the Grammy Award-winning "King of Zydeco", Louisiana musician, Clifton Chenier. In 1987, Chenier followed in his father's footsteps and led his father's band as an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

performer and singer of zydeco, a blend of cajun and creole music. With five previous albums to his credit, by 1994, Chenier began to record for Chicago-based Alligator Records.

Career

Chenier grew up in the 1960s, in the housing projects of his native Port Arthur, Texas. There, Chenier was aware of, but not exposed to his father's music as a young child, and had not heard the word Zydeco until later in his youth. Instead, Chenier developed tastes in the 1970s soul,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and jazz music of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, Funkadelic, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Upon first listening to his father's music, Chenier thought all the songs sounded the same. But he eventually began to appreciate and master the zydeco style, as he later joined and then took over his father's band and career. The first instrument Chenier learned to play was the saxophone. As a teenager in the early 1970s he played in black Top 40 bands in Port Arthur. By the mid 1970s Chenier went to college to study music. In 1978 his father invited Chenier to play his saxophone with the Red Hot Louisiana Band, whose members also included his Uncle, Cleveland Chenier, on washboard. By 1985, as his father was growing ill from diabetes, he invited Chenier to start playing the

in a larger role with the band, and to open the shows. In 1987, the year his father died, Chenier continued his own musical career where his father left off. He has since played such venues as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, San Diego's

Street Scene A street scene () is a basic model for epic theater set forth by Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and ...

and Milwaukee's Summerfest.

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

first heard Chenier in 1990, and featured him on the album '' The Rhythm of the Saints'', and that year's 'Born At The Right Time' tour. In 1992 Chenier played accordion on "Cajun Song", a track on the Gin Blossoms' album, '' New Miserable Experience''. 1992 saw Chenier featured with the Red Hot Louisiana Band on the PBS music television program '' Austin City Limits''. By October 1994, Chenier was signed by Alligator. His debut release there was ''Too Much Fun'', named the next year as best zydeco album of 1995 by '' Living Blues'' magazine. In 1995, Chenier gained his widest audience to date with television appearances on the

Jon Stewart Show ''The Jon Stewart Show'' is a late night talk show that was hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. The program premiered on MTV in 1993 as a 30-minute daily offering and became one of the network’s more popular shows. Through a series of events t ...

and CNN. His 1996 appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was featured in a segment by the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

cable music television network, as well as by '' Entertainment Weekly''. Chenier and the band also appeared that year at the Austin, Texas, 1996

SxSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Music Conference, a special event for Alligator Records' 25th anniversary. Chenier won the 1997 Living Blues' Critics' Poll Award and also an

AFIM The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

Indie Award for best zydeco album, for his next release, ''The Big Squeeze''. In 2001, Chenier played in front of 60,000 fans at the

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...

. In 2001 his recording ''Step It Up!'' was released, recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana.

Discography

C. J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band

* ''

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'' (Slash Records), 1990 * ''My Baby Don't Wear No Shoes'' (Arhoolie Records), 1992 * ''Too Much Fun'' (Alligator Records), 1995 * ''The Big Squeeze'' (Alligator Records), 1996 * ''Step It Up!'' (Alligator Records), 2001

C. J. Chenier

* ''I Ain't No Playboy'' (Slash Records), 1992 * ''The Desperate Kingdom Of Love'' (World Village Records), 2006 * ''Can't Sit Down'' (World Village Records), 2011

Limited editions

* ''Live at 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2012 * ''Live at 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2013 * ''Live at 2014 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2014 * ''Live at 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2015 * ''Live at 2016 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2016 * ''Live at 2017 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2017 * ''Live at 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2018 * ''Live at 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival'' (Munck Music), 2019 / ''Munck Music Live Recordings''
/ref>

References

External links

Official C.J. Chenier Website
*
C.J. Chenier YouTube ChannelC.J. Chenier MySpaceOld C.J. Chenier WebsiteC.J. Chenier Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2019) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chenier, C. J. 1957 births Living people Zydeco musicians People from Port Arthur, Texas American accordionists Louisiana Creole people Zydeco accordionists 21st-century accordionists