Biography
Born to the late zydeco trailblazer Clifton Chenier, Clayton Joseph Chenier—widely known as C.J. Chenier and often called “the crown prince of zydeco”—took over leadership of the Red Hot Louisiana Band after his father’s passing. Since then he has sustained the signature sound of that ensemble while pushing the boundaries of the zydeco tradition itself. His fascination with the style emerged only after he reached his early twenties. Although he began piano lessons in third grade, switched to saxophone the following year, and earned a scholarship to Texas Southern University, his ears were drawn instead to the grooves of R&B and contemporary jazz. Those tastes led him to Hot Ice, a Top 40 cover band in which he handled saxophone, keyboards, flute, and backing vocals. In 1978 he received an unexpected invitation to fill the saxophone chair left vacant by “Blind” John Hart in his father’s group. Despite scant prior exposure to zydeco, he accepted and spent the next decade learning the idiom firsthand. When Clifton Chenier died in 1987, C.J. assumed the roles of accordionist and bandleader. Outside the family fold he has contributed to several high-profile sessions, among them Paul Simon’s Rhythm of the Saints and the subsequent Born at the Right Time tour; he also appeared as a guest on Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience. In 1997 he earned a nomination for a W.C. Handy Award. His own recordings include My Baby Don’t Wear No Shoes (1988, Arhoolie), Hot Rod (1990, Slash), I Ain’t No Playboy (1992, Slash), Too Much Fun (1995, Alligator), Big Squeeze (1996, Alligator), and Step It Up (2001, Alligator). The more reflective The Desperate Kingdom of Love, captured roughly a month after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, came out in 2006 on World Village. Another World Village release, the high-octane Can’t Sit Down, was recorded in a single live take at Rock Romano’s Red Shack Studio in Houston and issued in 2011.
Albums
