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The most popular Zydeco artist currently is Frank, whose rap- inflected music is rocking Zydeco clubs like Richard's and Slim's Y-Ki-Ki in Opelousas. But a number of even more talented young musicians are fast emerging. Delafose (pronounced De-la-foss), 23, whose late father John was a highly regarded Zydeco performer, is a superb accordionist who sings in both English and French. A quiet man who habitually sports a big, black cowboy hat, Delafose taught himself to play the accordion at age 13. On his first solo album, French Rockin' Boogie, he shows his ability to take the simplest melody and then, as he puts it, "add the lacing" to turn a foursquare tune into a surging, syncopated dance. "I'm pretty traditional," he says, "but I can step it up when I want to."
Simien, 29, a red-hot accordionist whose vocal style recalls that of Aaron Neville, first discovered Zydeco at a fund raiser for his local Catholic church. "Black people in those days, they worked, they went to church, and they went to Zydeco," notes Simien, whose father was a bricklayer. "That was their life." On albums like Zydeco on the Bayou and There's Room for Us All, his high, near falsetto voice floats lovingly over a driving, rock-hard accompaniment.
The best synthesist of them all, however, is Landreth, 43, a long-haired, laid-back bottleneck ace whose virtuosity evokes comparisons with Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. A long-time sideman for such musicians as John Hiatt and John Mayall, the Mississippi-born, Lafayette-bred Landreth also played with Chenier in his prime. His first major-label solo album, 1992's Outward Bound, displayed a brilliant command of styles, including Chet Atkins-style flat picking, Delta blues and slide guitar. His most recent album, South of I-10 (referring to the interstate that bisects Louisiana), is even better. Creole Angel, for example, features a Zydeco-like repeated riff that builds to an overpowering climax. Landreth's variety of accents embraces the joyous cultural fusion that is Cajun country. Says he: "Man, this is the place to be." It's hard to disagree. --With reporting by David E. Thigpen/New York