A portrait of black Creole life in the Louisiana Delta, accompanied by the hot sounds of Zydeco music (a New Orleans musical hybrid containing elements of blues, folk and Tex-Mex music).
Not only does this bring Les Blank back to Louisiana (this time focused on Creole culture rather than Cajun culture), it pairs nicely with his film "Hot Pepper" that came out the same year (1973). If you want to meet the people, watch this one. If you want to fully experience the music, watch the other one. For the whole kit and caboodle, watch both (available now thanks to Criterion).
Does America have a better music historian than Les Blank? Probably not. He went to the source, filmed what he saw, made no commentary or political assumptions. Just music in the raw, bubbling up from the well.
Not only does this bring Les Blank back to Louisiana (this time focused on Creole culture rather than Cajun culture), it pairs nicely with his film "Hot Pepper" that came out the same year (1973). If you want to meet the people, watch this one. If you want to fully experience the music, watch the other one. For the whole kit and caboodle, watch both (available now thanks to Criterion).
Does America have a better music historian than Les Blank? Probably not. He went to the source, filmed what he saw, made no commentary or political assumptions. Just music in the raw, bubbling up from the well.
