Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp - Creole Stranger (CD)

All Music Guide

In the wake of "My TootToot," both Cajun and zydeco music became something of a flavor of the month in rootsrock circles, and a lot of bands that had the same relationship to the music of Clifton Chenier that Led Zeppelin had to American blues started playing an inoffensive, watereddown version of the music that did true Louisiana artists no favors. (Many of these bands also started using the terms "Cajun" and "zydeco" interchangeably, a misapprehension roughly akin to conflating, say, the Carter Family and Robert Cray.) Happily, Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp go a long way towards rectifying those problems. Creole Stranger has the rollicking snap of a classic Balfa Brothers set, but it seamlessly updates the traditional Cajun sound with electric instrumentation that modernizes the sound without diluting it. Stroughmatt, a fiddler and button accordion player with roots in both Louisiana and Acadian Canada, sings the French Creole lyrics in a pleasantly gruff voice refreshingly fr...ee of the affectations of many nonnatives who attempt Cajun music, and plays both of his instruments with a fierce rhythmic intensity and little time for flashy solos. The 15 tracks mix a handful of originals with a wellchosen selection of both old Cajun standards like Amede Ardoin's "Blues A Basile" and some repurposed RB tunes like "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Suzy Q," which work surprisingly well in these percolating new arrangements. - Stewart Mason, All Music Guide Read more Less