Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Listen to Clifton Chenier's "Ay, Ai, Ai," recorded at Bill Quinn’s Gold Star studios, released on his first LP for Arhoolie Records, 'Louisiana Blues & Zydeco,' and out on 'King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco.' "Ay, Ai, Ai" is part of an eight-song sampler that collects acclaimed classics alongside unreleased material from the "King of Zydeco" on his 4 CD / 6 LP vinyl box set.
Clifton Chenier: accordion and vocals
Elmore Nixon: piano
Robert Murphy: drums
unknown background vocals (likely the bass and guitar players who were present but did not play)
Purchase/Stream:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/clifton-chenier/king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
Bandcamp: cliftonchenier.bandcamp.com/album/king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
All other platforms: orcd.co/clifton-chenier-king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
In South Louisiana, Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) grew up hearing his father play a style of music known as La La at house dances held in Black French Creole communities. It had a percussive and syncopated sound, played in spare combinations of an accordion and a washboard used to scrub out a rhythm. After picking up accordion as a curious teenager, Chenier soon brought into this sound the rhythm and blues that dominated radios and jukeboxes, crafting a new style that would be called zydeco. In the 1950s, he recorded for Elko, Specialty, and Chess, and joined national package show tours with stars like Little Richard and Etta James. A decade later, Chenier was quietly settled in Houston, the big stages seemingly behind him. But one rainy Saturday night at a Houston neighborhood bar, Chenier’s cousin Lightning Hopkins introduced him to Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records, where zydeco and Clifton Chenier would find a new home and champion.
King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco is a 4 CD/6 LP retrospective box set assembled in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Chenier’s birth. The set features a chronology of Chenier’s landmark work with Arhoolie and other labels, alongside a healthy dose of previously unissued gems. The 160-page book includes photos, posters, and other graphic artifacts from the Strachwitz Collection and deeply researched liner note essays by Grammy award-winning writer Adam Machado, public folklorist and radio host Nick Spitzer and longtime Louisiana journalist Herman Fusilier, along with a moving personal remembrance by Clifton’s son, Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier. The set is the first release on Arhoolie since the label became a part of Smithsonian Folkways.
With music and storytelling and abundant visual imagery, this set demonstrates Clifton Chenier's life as a transformative artist -- from his earliest days practicing in the barn back home, to his reign as the undisputed King of Zydeco.
Clifton Chenier: https://folkways.si.edu/artists/clifton-chenier
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: twitter.com/Folkways
Instagram: instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways
Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways
The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
Listen to Clifton Chenier's "Ay, Ai, Ai," recorded at Bill Quinn’s Gold Star studios, released on his first LP for Arhoolie Records, 'Louisiana Blues & Zydeco,' and out on 'King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco.' "Ay, Ai, Ai" is part of an eight-song sampler that collects acclaimed classics alongside unreleased material from the "King of Zydeco" on his 4 CD / 6 LP vinyl box set.
Clifton Chenier: accordion and vocals
Elmore Nixon: piano
Robert Murphy: drums
unknown background vocals (likely the bass and guitar players who were present but did not play)
Purchase/Stream:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/clifton-chenier/king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
Bandcamp: cliftonchenier.bandcamp.com/album/king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
All other platforms: orcd.co/clifton-chenier-king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
In South Louisiana, Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) grew up hearing his father play a style of music known as La La at house dances held in Black French Creole communities. It had a percussive and syncopated sound, played in spare combinations of an accordion and a washboard used to scrub out a rhythm. After picking up accordion as a curious teenager, Chenier soon brought into this sound the rhythm and blues that dominated radios and jukeboxes, crafting a new style that would be called zydeco. In the 1950s, he recorded for Elko, Specialty, and Chess, and joined national package show tours with stars like Little Richard and Etta James. A decade later, Chenier was quietly settled in Houston, the big stages seemingly behind him. But one rainy Saturday night at a Houston neighborhood bar, Chenier’s cousin Lightning Hopkins introduced him to Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records, where zydeco and Clifton Chenier would find a new home and champion.
King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco is a 4 CD/6 LP retrospective box set assembled in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Chenier’s birth. The set features a chronology of Chenier’s landmark work with Arhoolie and other labels, alongside a healthy dose of previously unissued gems. The 160-page book includes photos, posters, and other graphic artifacts from the Strachwitz Collection and deeply researched liner note essays by Grammy award-winning writer Adam Machado, public folklorist and radio host Nick Spitzer and longtime Louisiana journalist Herman Fusilier, along with a moving personal remembrance by Clifton’s son, Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier. The set is the first release on Arhoolie since the label became a part of Smithsonian Folkways.
With music and storytelling and abundant visual imagery, this set demonstrates Clifton Chenier's life as a transformative artist -- from his earliest days practicing in the barn back home, to his reign as the undisputed King of Zydeco.
Clifton Chenier: https://folkways.si.edu/artists/clifton-chenier
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: twitter.com/Folkways
Instagram: instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways
Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways
The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
![Kronos Quartet - Glorious Mahalia: IV. Sometime I feel like a motherless child [Official Audio]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OUl96HRwJKM/mqdefault.jpg "Kronos Quartet - Glorious Mahalia: IV. Sometime I feel like a motherless child [Official Audio]
In this plaintive, forceful tapestry of performances - one from the 1950s, one from today - Kronos Quartet plays along with gospel legend and civil rights stronghold Mahalia Jackson. The traditional African American spiritual intertwines Jackson’s storied voice and the sparse, ruminative piano accompaniment of her collaborator Mildred Falls with award-winning composer Stacy Garrop’s original arrangement.
Purchase/Stream:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/kronos-quartet/glorious-mahalia
Bandcamp: https://kronosquartet.bandcamp.com/album/glorious-mahalia
All other platforms: https://orcd.co/kronos-quartet-glorious-mahalia
Midway through Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech at the 1963 March on Washington, a voice rang out from behind him: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” That voice belonged to Mahalia Jackson, King’s close friend and one of the most revered gospel singers of the 20th century. Glorious Mahalia, a visionary tribute to Jackson’s life by the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, uses that moment as a springboard to explore the depth of Jackson’s musical craft and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement, including her relationship with Clarence Jones and Studs Terkel, other luminaries of the time. Featuring compositions by Stacy Garrop and Zachary James Watkins, a new arrangement of Jackson’s astonishing version of the Antonio Haskell composition “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,” and archival audio of Jacksons voice, the album illuminates Jacksons historic artistry and advocacy.
Kronos Quartet: https://kronosquartet.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kronosquartet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kronos_quartet/
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Folkways
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways
Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways
The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
#KronosQuartet #MahaliaJackson")
![Kronos Quartet - God Shall Wipe All Tears Away [Official Audio]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Sk-t6YEwwmI/mqdefault.jpg "Kronos Quartet - God Shall Wipe All Tears Away [Official Audio]
Originally composed by Antonio Haskell in 1935 with a new arrangement by Jacob Garchik, Kronos Quartets God Shall Wipe All Tears Away from their album Glorious Mahalia treats Mahalia Jacksons original recording of the song as a score for their vibrant, sonorous adaptation. The biggest challenge, lead violinist and Kronos Quartet founder David Harrington writes, was getting the emotional message of the voice.”
The album liner notes expand on the pieces context:
When Mahalia Jackson first recorded “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away” in 1937, she was relatively unknown, an aspiring artist who had migrated ten years earlier to Chicago from her New Orleans birthplace. The song—based on Revelation 21:4 in the King James Bible: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”—was composed in 1935 by New Orleans native Antonio Haskell. The 25-year-old Jackson recorded her seminal version for the Decca Coral label on May 21, 1937, along with “God’s Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares,” “My Lord,” and “Keep Me Everyday.”
David Harrington - violin
John Sherba - violin
Hank Dutt - viola
Sunny Yang - cello
Purchase/Stream:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/kronos-quartet/glorious-mahalia
Bandcamp: https://kronosquartet.bandcamp.com/album/glorious-mahalia
All other platforms: https://orcd.co/kronos-quartet-glorious-mahalia
Midway through Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech at the 1963 March on Washington, a voice rang out from behind him: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” That voice belonged to Mahalia Jackson, King’s close friend and one of the most revered gospel singers of the 20th century. Glorious Mahalia, a visionary tribute to Jackson’s life by the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, uses that moment as a springboard to explore the depth of Jackson’s musical craft and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement, including her relationship with Clarence Jones and Studs Terkel, other luminaries of the time. Featuring compositions by Stacy Garrop and Zachary James Watkins, a new arrangement of Jackson’s astonishing version of the Antonio Haskell composition “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,” and archival audio of Jacksons voice, the album illuminates Jacksons historic artistry and advocacy.
Kronos Quartet: https://kronosquartet.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kronosquartet/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kronos_quartet/
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Folkways
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways
Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways
The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
#KronosQuartet #MahaliaJackson")
![Kronos Quartet - Peace Be Till: IV. Symphony of Social Justice [Official Audio]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TAdIFIwepvs/mqdefault.jpg "Kronos Quartet - Peace Be Till: IV. Symphony of Social Justice [Official Audio]
Composed by Zachary James Watkins, Kronos Quartets Peace Be Till: IV. Symphony of Social Justice from their album Glorious Mahalia features an original interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s lawyer and speechwriter Dr. Clarence B. Jones. Jones discusses the struggle for freedom and equity alongside Kings famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, which he calls a symphony of social justice.
About the piece, Watkins writes:
Peace Be Till is about the legacy of America’s civil rights movement, the important role artists play in critical social justice movements, and the necessary dreams today. As an American born in 1980 of mixed-race African and European American heritage, in a family that believed that we are one and that America is capable of embracing diversity, I feel that I am a direct result of this struggle. From day one I have experienced racialized America. Times are still tough. This piece pays homage to the artist’s instinct to inspire and activate, as well as the desire to explore the nature of things. In my case, I am fascinated by the physics and phenomenal power of sound.
Clarence B. Jones - vocals
David Harrington - violin
John Sherba - violin
Hank Dutt - viola
Sunny Yang - cello
Purchase/Stream:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/kronos-quartet/glorious-mahalia
Bandcamp: https://kronosquartet.bandcamp.com/album/glorious-mahalia
All other platforms: https://orcd.co/kronos-quartet-glorious-mahalia
Midway through Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech at the 1963 March on Washington, a voice rang out from behind him: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” That voice belonged to Mahalia Jackson, King’s close friend and one of the most revered gospel singers of the 20th century. Glorious Mahalia, a visionary tribute to Jackson’s life by the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, uses that moment as a springboard to explore the depth of Jackson’s musical craft and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement, including her relationship with Clarence Jones and Studs Terkel, other luminaries of the time. Featuring compositions by Stacy Garrop and Zachary James Watkins, a new arrangement of Jackson’s astonishing version of the Antonio Haskell composition “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,” and archival audio of Jacksons voice, the album illuminates Jacksons historic artistry and advocacy.
Kronos Quartet: https://kronosquartet.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kronosquartet/
#kronosquartet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kronos_quartet/
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smithsonianfolkwaysrecordings
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Folkways
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smithsonianfolkways
Support our work! Become a Friend of Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/friends-of-folkways
The content and comments posted here are subject to the Smithsonian Institution copyright and privacy policy (www.si.edu/copyright). Smithsonian reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove any content at any time.
#KronosQuartet #MahaliaJackson")
