Although he passed away in the late 1980s, Clifton Chenier remains the undisputed King of Zydeco. It was Clifton Chenier who took the old dance music of the rural Louisiana Creoles and added blues, soul, and country and stirred it all up until it became what we now call zydeco. His name was virtually synonymous with this type of music, and he became the most respected and influential zydeco artist in the world. Chenier popularized the use of the big piano key accordion, which allowed him to play a diversity of styles within the expanding zydeco genre. He pushed the envelope with energetic renditions of French dance standards or newer tunes transformed through zydeco's characteristic syncopated rhythms and breathy accordion pulses. Chenier assembled a band of musicians who were not just good but were the best in the business; they were a close-knit group...