Ernest James Zydeco – Automatic Harvester
You can smell what Ernest James is cooking by looking at his menu. Covered in gumbo and jambalaya stains, it reeks of crayfish and catfish, red beans and rice and andouille sausage. And even though the cuisine is served up Southwest Louisiana style, neither the server or the venue are anywhere close to Cajun or Creole boundaries. Ernest James Zydeco emanates from beef country, deep in the heart of Kansas City.
But you won’t find any sweet sauced bar-b-que offered up here. Some of James’ fare is based on K.C. adventures, but it’s done in a style that’s straight out of the Louisiana bayous. James’ dad has Louisiana roots, but Ernest developed his skills and love for the music when the family moved to Oakland, an oasis for displaced Cajuns and Creoles looking for a better life. They bought their music with them, and James has brought those memories of that sound and his take on the music along to K.C.
On his new record Automatic Harvester, James comes out rocking hard on “Automatic,” hot boxing the accordion like C.J. Chenier, tossing in a snippet of Bobby Blue Bland’s “Turn on Your Lovelight” at the end just like C.J.’s dad Clifton might have done, mixing up rocking blues, Creole style, with his zydeco.
Although it has a Mardi Gras vibe, the setting for” Knock Me Over with a Feather” is Kansas City, not Louisiana. But that doesn’t stop the rollicking two-step from feeling like a reel through the streets of N’awleans for the town’s biggest party day.
The fact that James’ band has Zydeco in its name doesn’t stop them from stomping around in a mess of other genres as well. “Cry Baby” has a Cajun country feel with some weepy pedal steel sobbing softly in the background, and the John Lee Hooker-ish “Bulldog” boogies relentlessly.
James goes deep in Cajun territory for “Eh Catin” (Oh Sweetheart), pumping out an energetic fiddle fueled waltz that would be right at home in Mulate’s, the Cajun dance and food paradise formerly of Lafayette, now transplanted to New Orleans. The irony is that the scene James is singing about here is in Kansas City, but you’d never know unless you listened closely.
James fools you again on “YJ’s.” The brassy strut makes you believe the band was second lining thru the streets of the Big Easy instead of having a throw-down at a local KC snack bar.
James has taken the direction he was headed towards in his last release, 2013’s Three Steps From La La, and amped it up, throwing out throbbing tentacles in all directions to snatch up goodies from all over. Its a grab you’ll be glad to latch on to.
Grant Britt