Corey Ledet Zydeco was all smiles talking about his new album, Live In Alaska. The thrill? Finally recording a live album that lives up to the zydeco music he’s devoted his life to. “I really had a good time making it,” he told me. “It was something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I just hope everybody enjoys it.”
Live In Alaska was released on December 23, 2025, shortly after I talked to Corey. You may think Zydeco music is not for you but if you give a listen, don’t be surprised if you find yourself caught up in the rhythm. Corey’s many fans will hear live versions of their old favorites including “This Is All I Want,” “Creole Cruising,” and “Boudin Man” – the latter complete with a musical homage to “Land Of A Thousand Dances.”
Corey comes from a musical family who have played with musical legends from Louis Armstrong to Ike and Tina Turner to Bobby “Blue” Bland to B. B. King. He has been Grammy-nominated twice. Yet, it wasn’t until he was invited to perform at the Anchorage Folk Festival that his dream of recording a quality live album became a reality.
Did he feel any pressure knowing his dream was about to become a reality?
Corey admitted, “There was a little bit of pressure. We’ve tried to do live album projects in the past, and things didn’t line up – like maybe the guitar didn’t get tracked or something happened.”
He was reassured when the organizers of the Anchorage Folk Festival made sure they had the proper equipment and the proper engineers. Corey said, “When we got back home we listened to it (the recording) and it was perfect. It was almost ready to be put out then. That’s how great it was.”
The quality of the recording is great but then the band was pretty great to begin with. How great? Listen to “Alaska Funk.” It is a tune Corey and the band made up on the spot.
“Funny story about that one,” Corey admitted. “And this is something that happens to all musicians. One night I went, ‘Uh-oh. What do we play next?’ That’s where the recording picks up.”
So the tune was an improvisation and a good one. Corey said improvising a tune is not uncommon for the band.
“The secret to that is having well experienced musicians who are able to do that.” Corey’s band has been playing with him for quite a while. “You have Julian Primeaux on guitar. Jean-Paul Jolivette on drums. Cecil Green on keyboards. And James Adams on the rub board.”
Corey added, “Another funny story about Cecil. The trip to Alaska came about and our bass player couldn’t make it. So Cecil played the bass line and the keyboard parts at the same time!”
Live in Alaska is credited to Corey Ledet Zydeco & Black Magic. Why Corey Ledet Zydeco? Is that now his last name? “No. I kind of reinvented myself a little bit,” he explained. “When I started out originally I was Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band. We did that for many, many years. I felt like I needed and the product needed something fresh. So I decided to call myself Corey Ledet Zydeco and that was the name of the band. I did that for a year or two.”
But then he got a new, custom made all black accordion and that changed everything. When he got it, it was “prettier than I thought it would be.”
“It sounded good,” Corey explained. “It wasn’t heavy. It just was magical! So I decided to call the accordion Black Magic. Since I got this accordion not only is it the perfect accordion for me but it seems like the band has been tighter than we’ve ever been.” So now the band is also called Black Magic. Thus, Corey Ledet Zydeco and Black Magic.
Corey also took some time to discuss the roots of Zydeco and the difference between it and Cajun. Both are Louisiana’s contribution to music genres and have their admirers. Both emerged from South Louisiana’s French-speaking communities.
“Everything was being performed in French,” Corey told me. “This is in the early 1900s, that era. Right around the time when the radio first came out, around the 1920s I think, I think that’s when the Creoles – the people of color – they were more influenced by the stuff they were hearing on the radio. Like blues.
“So the Creoles shifted more toward the blues and the Cajuns shifted more toward country and western.”
So where did the name Zydeco come from? It was Clifton Chenier who coined the term and Corey explained its meaning.
“Clifton Chenier coined the tern Zydeco for the style of music because it is real snappy. And Zydeco is like a snap bean. Like when you take a bean and snap it (in half). So he called it Zydeco because it was very snappy.
Corey’s music is surely Zydeco but there are elements of the blues, pop, and even rock and roll in what he plays.
Corey says it is a recipe he is following from Clifton Chenier. “In his day, he was basically doing the same thing. He could go in and out of different genres. He could do a lot of R&B. In his time that was Louis Jordan or Etta James. He would not only cover them but he would sing them in Creole French.”
Clifton Chenier played a piano style accordion that allowed him to easily cross genres due to its versatility. Corey Ledet follows Chenier’s recipe. His Black Magic is a piano accordion that also allows him to switch genres on the fly.
That makes for some interesting listening.
