As the leading exponent of a unique musical tradition known as zydeco, Boozoo Chavis is a genuine artist who is inextricably enveloped within the regional landscapes of his culture. Lake Charles, Louisiana, sits at the western apex of a roughly triangular area of south Louisiana that is home to the black French-speaking population known as Creoles. Here, among the horse pastures and the patchwork fields of rice and sweet potatoes, Boozoo Chavis learned to play "lala music" on the accordion for the rural house dances that formed the centerpiece of Creole social life. When the urbanized sounds of rhythm and blues caught on among local blacks, it was Chavis who first successfully blended traditional la-la songs with a more contemporary bluesy sound and with lyrics sung in English. In 1954 he recorded the now classic "Paper in My Shoe," which told of poverty but with...