Hot Pepper

The documentary draws a portrait of the musician Clifton Chenier. Chenier is the best known name in zydeco. What he plays joins Cajun dance music to black rhythm and blues. Overtones out of Africa are heard inside it as well. The camera follows him through small places in South Louisiana. The music he plays gets the room on its feet at once. The film gives more room to the music itself than to talk. The camera lets the songs run from beginning to end. Chenier and his accordion are at the centre of the account. The fifty four minutes are compressed into a short stretch. Les Blank made this American documentary, completed in 1973.