Willis Prudhomme and the Zydeco Express, Living Legend (Zydeco Gumbo Records)

Zydeco practitioners are supposed to be semi-retired at age 75, not turning in one of the better records of their career. But Prudhomme has always been on the youthful side, mainly by avoiding all the hard living that takes a grueling toll on zydeco’s favorite sons. When it came time to record, Prudhomme thought youth again and let grandnephew Chris Ardoin helm the project. Needless to say, Ardoin turned out to be a package deal—producing, mixing, mastering and even jumping on bass to provide a tight, fat sound to ratchet down the bottom end. (Though uncredited, Ardoin also supplies some searing finishing touches on lead guitar). Prudhomme’s own guitar man Hubert Guillory muscles up some hard clanging rhythm action to help make the beat impossible to drop despite how many drinks you’ve knocked over.

Yet, even without Ardoin, Prudhomme would have probably turned in a respectable outing. His voice is still amazingly sturdy and cover songs such as “Oh Mom” and “Butt Thang” work well due to their popularity in recent years. A rendition of Beau Jocque’s “Yesterday” is especially strong. Drummer Paul Lavan practically smacks the beat into next week while Prudhomme really feels the song of his late buddy. Prudhomme tosses in four of his own, the best being “Louisiana Women” which contains the memorable catch phrase “they just want to bump and grind.” That may be true but this time, it’s not R. Kelly that they’re listening to.