Customer Reviews

Gonna Take You Downtown

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're looking for music that you can listen to while you sit back, drink some wine, and watch the sun set -- DON'T get this album. But if you're in the market for some contagious get-down foot-stomping sounds -- this is it. You simply cannot sit still while listening to this album. It makes you want to dance. My kids ages 7 to 17 were all dancing like fools in the living room, while I was doing the same in the kitchen. I don't know that much about the style of music, or even its history, I just know I like it and I strongly recommend it to everyone with a love for good gyrating boogie music.

I recently saw this band perform the title track on the David Letterman show. I've never been to Loisianna, nor been a fan of funk, but this is contagious! The title track is THE music to liven up a party. I dare you to try and sit still through it. This is a must-have for my collection. Blues fans will be particularly interested in this artist.

Probably one of the least likely places you would think of going to purchase a zydeco CD would be Carmel, California, but that's where I picked up Gonna Take You Downtown while on a business trip (tough job, checking out hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions in and around Monterey, but somebody had to do it... ) one lovely spring. When I got back to Ohio and fired this baby up on the old stereo, I was immediately impressed. The CD's title cut, written by Beau Jocque (real name: Andrus Espre) starts things off with a riff that sounds a lot like "LaGrange" from ZZTop, but with a zydeco twist. The second cut is a zydeco version of War's "Cisco Kid," and later in the program is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Another Beau Jocque composition, "It's So Easy When You're Breezin'," seem to be a mix of the old George Benson tune, "Breezin'," with a little of Young-Holt Unlimited's "Soulful Strut" thrown in for good measure.

Yes, much of the music on this CD is derivative, but the group infuses it with so much energy and good will that you can't help but be impressed. The recording crackles with energy, with plenty of midbass punch and good dynamics. An amazing CD!

This CD is pure, infectious zydeco. The title track is superb, but so are many of the others--like the incomparable "Just One Kiss." This is the music I slip into my CD player when I just want to feel good.