Search - Lil Brian & Zydeco Travelers :: Funk Nation

From the first notes of the title track, it's obvious that Lil' Brian is a man with a mission--to bring da funk to zydeco. And that's nowhere near as strange as you might think; after all, the two share common musical roots. More to the point, Brian and his band (protégés of Buckwheat Zydeco) make it work very well. The vocoder refrain on "Get Up On That Zydeco" could almost have come from an old Roger and Zapp record, while "Summer Girl" has more melody than most modern R&B. There's also plenty of "true" zydeco to convince purists that this is more than a novelty, and that this band's East Texas roots run deep--just check "Uncle Cliff" or "Party" to hear them whipping it up. This is the real thing, but it's also more. What it does, essentially, is offer one possible way forward for zydeco, while still honoring the tradition. And that's a major deal. --Chris Nickson