It was a great pleasure – and a very emotional experience – to co-produce the new album by Johnette Downing, Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Chas. Of course, the children’s musician and author Johnette Downing is my wife, and I’ve often shared the stage with her, playing harmonica and singing background vocals. I first met Nathan Williams forty years ago, when we recorded his debut album for Rounder Records. On occasion, I toured with him as a member of the band – gigs as far away as Istanbul and Slovenia. So, it was wonderful to bring the two of them together, and the resulting music was everything I hoped it would be.
We recorded at Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana, where I previously worked with Boozoo Chavis, the Bluerunners, Tabu Ley Rochereau, the Holmes Brothers, and many more artists. Located along the Vermillion River outside of Lafayette, the studio is a peaceful and relaxing recording environment. After rehearsals at Nathan’s Cha Cha Studio, we gathered and recorded twelve songs the old fashioned way, live in the studio. Engineer Justin Tocket made everything sound so good in the headphones that we all were inspired. I continue to believe in recording as an in-the-moment act of communal creation. When it works, as it did in the instance, I am secure in believing that AI doesn’t stand a chance!
Johnette’s music speaks directly to children, and the songs she wrote or adapted for My Little Snap Bean: Zydeco For Children are 100% focused on children. The music is 100% authentic, full-energy zydeco. So, to my ears, it is authentic on both levels, something several reviewers have already picked up on (Britain’s Indie Dock Music Blog wrote, “My Little Snap Bean is not a polite domestication of a wild music. It is the wild music itself, barely leashed, wearing a festive hat… “). I think children and families who hear it will be moved when they hear it. It’s now up on all the streaming services.
