***1/2 Balfa Toujours

LIVE AT WHISKEY RIVER LANDING

(Rounder)

Way back when, French Louisiana music split into the Creole-derived, R&B-inflected zydeco of Clifton Chenier and the generally softer, C&W-flavored Cajun of Dewey Balfa (1927-1992). These days, Balfa's daughter Christine carries the flame in Balfa Toujours, a deep-tradition band that avoids the contempo accouterments of electric guitars, saxophones, and folk rock for the down-home of fiddle, accordion, acoustic guitar, and French song. Their imperative: to lift the dance floor. Here they do it with smooth-yet-forceful two-steps and waltzes driven by a rhythm section (bassist Craig Guillroy and drummer Todd Aucoin, with ringer Geno Delafose) who accent the beat without breaking the dancers' glide or the flow of melody. Christine does most of the singing in a sweet nasal keen born of the Bayou, with her husband, Dirk Powell, on accordion and Kevin Wimmer on violin. Although not jazz, this is swing worthy of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli's Hot Club of France, captured perfectly in a warm live recording at this Atchafalaya Basin dancehall. French/English lyrics provided.

-- Jon Garelick