Zydeco veteran Warren Ceaser came to this debut recording by way of high recommendations from the crème de la crème of Zydeco royalty. After touring in the 1970s with the likes of Isaac Hayes and Luther Ingram, Ceaser returned home to southwest Louisiana and began playing trumpet behind the great Clifton Chenier, a blues influenced Zydeco pioneer and undisputed first King of Zydeco.

After Chenier’s death in the late 1980s, the Zydeco crown passed to Alton Rubin, a/k/a Rockin’ Dopsie (pronounced “doopsie”). And it was Rockin’ Dopsie who told Sound of New Orleans owner and producer Gary Edwards – searching for some overlooked Zydeco talent to record – to go hear Warren Ceasar. Not long after, Edwards and Ceaser went into the studio to produce this milestone Zydeco outing.

Warren Ceaser, like Clifton Chenier and Rockin’ Dopsie before him, stays close to the origins of Zydeco music – French Cajun music mixed with R&B-influenced dance floor rhythms - but he brings his own fresh ingredients as well, like sweet soul music, driving rhythms, and even a loping reggae beat. He also tosses in a little soul jazz and some old-fashioned R&B, making for quite a diverse repertoire.

Check out, for example, the closing “Cherry Pie,” which segues into versions of both “Blue Moon” and “You Send Me.” Or the pair of Zydeco reggae tracks, “Down by the Bayou” and “Teasin’ You,” the latter a ‘60s national hit on Atlantic for New Orleans by soulman Willie Tee. And don’t forget the stutter-step rhythm of “Zydeco Rap” or the classic waltz-around-the-dance floor rendition of “Valse de Grand Basile.”

In every case, though, this is Zydeco stripped to its bare musical essence: intense, rollicking, and tons of fun!