Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds Who Stole My Monkey? (review)

Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds Who Stole My Monkey? Rounder, 1999 CD 21 56, $1 5.OO Boozoo Chavis rocks. A pioneer of the zydeco sound in the 195os, the accordionist remains one of its most influential artists. His latest CD reflects his abiUty to form wide-ranging musical interests into a zydeco flavor rooted in the rural southwest Louisiana where he stiU Uves. Backed by die Magic Sounds, Chavis puts his own take on standbys Uke "AUons a Lafayette," "Baby Please Don't Go," and a CUfton Chenier classic, "LucUle." He also includes many of his own songs, most notably his famous bawdy pieces: "Uncle Bud," and "Deacon Jones," whose subject matter and language have resulted in the "parental advisory" stamped on the cd cover. Longtime underground favorites, these two cuts hint at a deep vein ofAmerican vernacular song that has largely been ignored. Luckily, Chavis has not been similarly overlooked, but, given his infectious and exuberant music, that would be nearly impossible to do. Caribbean Sampler Rounder, 1999 CD I72I, $1 5.OO In 1962 the folklorist Alan Lomax documented Caribbean musical traditions with a series of field recordings much Uke those he had done in the American South. That material was never made commerciaUy available until now. This introductory cd to Rounder's Caribbean Voyage series samples material from Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Carriacou, St. Lucia, St. Barthélémy, AnguiUa, Trinidad, and Nevis. Stressing styles deeply rooted in West and Central Africa and die adaptation of European styles and instruments, the disc also includes a French baUad sung by a white inhabitant of St. Barthélémy and a Hindu prayer from Nevis's East Indian residents. An excellent thirty-seven page booklet puts the digitaUy remastered material in context and provides photos, transcriptions, and a bibUography. Caribbean Sampler is an economical overview of the Caribbean Voyage set and an important document in die history of the African Diaspora. 94 southern cultures, Fall ?999 : GavinJames Campbell ...