The King of Zydeco Live at Montreux (CD - 1984)

Recorded live at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on July 12, 1975.

Personnel: Clifton Chenier (vocals, harmonica, accordion); Paul Senegal (guitar); Robert Peter St. Julian (drums); Cleveland Chenier (rub-board).

Recording information: Montreux Festival, Switzerland (07/12/1975).

Photographer: Michael P. Smith.

This album includes almost all of the concert performance by Clifton Chenier and his band at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland during the summer of 1975. He earned the title "King Of Zydeco" for his relentless live performances, as this show aptly demonstrates. In the hands of Chenier and his four-piece band, the music coalesces around a rhythmic core that's both undeniable and subtly textured.

Chenier's accordion flies in and around the rhythm with verve and flair. He infuses his singing with passion, from blues-fueled bluster to soulful crooning. Then 50 years old, Chenier was a tireless performer who was also one of the prime ambassadors of zydeco music to the rest of the world. minimize