Lynn August, Creole People (Aim Records)

“Creole people, they don’t want to be nobody else,” sings the gritty voice of zydeco’s Lynn August on Creole People, the album’s title track.

Lynn August, Creole People, album cover‘They want to be recognized for themselves ! Creole people, I am here to tell! They’re alive and well.” Powerful lyrics indeed, there has never been a song that expressed the often neglected Creole sentiment so strongly and anthemically as this one, yet some of its magic also lies in making non-Creoles proud of their own heritage as well.

Like the powerful title song, August’s third domestic release (are-release of a 1995 Swiss label Blue House imprint) provides a thorough examination of the Creole perspective. Whether it’s the hard-chargin’ “Miquen” that stems from a generationally told Creole folk tale, “Hey Mama” that is thought to have originated with zydeco pioneer Claude Faulk or even the related cultural bloodlines of Cajun tunes “Matlin” and the old style waltz “Mosquito,” each track’s selection fits neatly into August’s theme that Creole people are their own proud entity. In doing so, August’s roots remain amazingly true, indelibly etched with a first generation zydeco stamp.

His expressive pipes and rich, precise piano accordion mastery churns out many a dance boogie like the swanky, bluesy Louie Jordan popularized “Woke Up This Morning,” the funk frenzied “Amazon Annie,” or even a hip Black gospel like “Trust in the Lord.”

Renditions of standards “Tu Le Ton Son Ton” and “Zydeco Bogaloo” are crisp while the Cajun classic “Lemonade” is undoubtedly one of the best readings in recent memory. It’s simpler to put it this way: just drop a needle on this one.