Live at Slim's Y-Ki-Ki
Keith Frank is arguably the reigning king of the zydeco circuit, his simple, throbbing style derived fromBoozoo Chavis. His music is often described as trance inducing, which may be overstating the case somewhat, but it is repetitive in the best sense; the songs are short and to the point, and the beat (even more than the accordion) is everything. This is unequivocal dance music, recorded in one of south Louisiana's premier dance halls. Frank plays fat, harmonica- or horn-like lines, each note so carefully chosen it can't help but stand out, but a track like "Why You Wanna Make Me Cry?" displays considerable dexterity. He's very much in the zydeco tradition, yet also squarely in the here and now, tossing off pop-culture allusions to television theme songs, patriotic anthems, classic rock hits, and consumer products, such as the toothpastes he plugs in the playful, even slightly ludicrous, "Hey Pretty Baby (With Your Teeth So White)."--John Morthland