Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band

Standing On Faith

CPL Publishing

Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas but would spend his summers in Parks, Louisiana. Ledet’s primary influence was his grandfather, Buchanan “Tbu” Ledet, a drummer who worked with Clifton Chenier the King of Zydeco; and so he started out as a drummer. At ten years old Ledet joined Wilbert Thibodeaux and the Zydeco Rascals.

When he was twelve Ledet began working with his aunt Rosie. Between 1994 and 2000 Corey appeared on at least five of her albums including 1997’s “Zydeco Sensation”. In 2003, at the age of 22 and after permanently moving to Louisiana, Ledet switched to accordion and began his own band.

Ledet’s debut recording was 2004’s “3 Years 2 Late”. In 2006 Ledet teamed up with fiddler Cedric Watson to record “Goin Down to Louisiana”. Watson went on to form The Pine Leaf Boys while Ledet continued to record on his own. In 2012 Ledet recorded his sixth album “Nothin’ But the Best” and received a Grammy nomination.

This new album is Ledet’s ninth. Vocalist Ledet plays accordion, drums, and washboard; while the band is rounded out by Jesse DelGizzi, guitar, bass, Moog, and vocals; and Cecil Green, keyboards.

Ledet states “I like to explore and experiment” so his music includes pop, funk, R n’ B, and reggae influences. The “Intro” is influenced by Prince but then Ledet switches to a more traditional sound on “Push Me Away”. Ledet infuses what he calls zydeco-pop into the instrumental “Love Never Felt So Good” and on the title track “Standing On Faith”. Both “Take Me There” and “Street Light” are R n’ B influenced while “A Good Day” has a definite reggae sound.

Ledet keeps one foot in the tradition of Chenier and Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural while still exploring new styles of Zydeco.

Richard Ludmerer

[amazon_link asins=’B06WWP63SV,B06X9KKFKR,B06X9LXHMG,B06X9GCR6P,B06X9FQJ39,B06X9DWFLQ,B06X9DWFCQ,B06X9DR87H,B06WWR1456,B00FZ9X4F4,B004IOP36K,B00M1SRE12,B013H2DI92′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’maasc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’b1eaf990-feb9-11e6-a2e5-9f48dad31f31′]