Hang It High, Hang It Low

Remember when you could mention New Orleans without immediately conjuring up images of disaster? Come on, it wasn't that long ago that the city was known for good times, good drinks, a musical heritage of world-wide reknown and soul-crushing poverty...for now, let's just remember the music. Specifically the soulful rhythms of classic Zydeco jazz, with its eclectic mix of guitar, accordion and fun-loving lyrics. Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas leave introspection and brooding thoughts behind them. These guys are party cats, and their goal is to conjure up the images of the good times down in the Quarter or around the Mississippi Delta where people used to be able to find an excuse in the midst of daily traumas to enjoy life's offerings with a few friends and maybe a few dozen more of their friends.

Every track sparkles with a "can-do". Who cares where the song is heading or what happened to the chorus? Nobody, that's who! Perhaps Nathan and his band don't stand out enough from the other players out there. The good-time selection of songs soars rhythmically and acoustically, but the "happy-go-lucky-even-in-the-face-of-tragedy" lyrics never really grab a hold. However, that doesn't really matter very much as the tunes themselves succeed in doing what this brand of music was meant to do: spread a little cheer in a too-often dreary world. New Orleans may never be the same again and that bodes poor for the next generation of jazz listeners and artists who once congregated and were generated by the old town's distinct atmosphere. I don't see much in the bones about the future of New Orlean's/Mississippi Delta jazz, but I hope we learn to appreciate this stuff now before the only place we can find something like it is Europe or Japan.