Bayou Cadillac

Those who define everything in strict, unflexible color terms consider all black South Louisiana sounds zydeco and all white sounds from that region Cajun. However, Beausoleil, an obviously white group, open this release with a signature zydeco tune, Clarence Garlow's "Bon Temps Roulet." Quite simply, they're unaware of this "rule," violating it repeatedly. They included entertaining remakes of "Bo Diddley" and "Iko Iko" in the title medley and also covered Big Joe Williams' "Baby Don't Go," doing them just as effectively as "Couchon de Lait" and "Flammes D'Enfer." While they sometimes ventured a bit afield, as with the concluding "Island Zydeco," much of Beausoleil's fare artfully crossed genres and successfully combined divergent influences and material. This disc should satisfy audiences regardless of idiomatic preference.