Get your dancing shoes on a day early next week.

Thursday night is going to be hot – both literally in temperature and in music.

C.J. Chenier, son of Grammy winner and zydeco legend Clifton Chenier, is coming to the Bordentown Record Collector with his group, the Red Hot Louisiana Band.

Between the acoustic trademarks and blues household names, the Record Collector has squeezed in a zydeco dance party to celebrate the sizzling summer in a southern way.

What exactly is zydeco? It’s not exactly R&B, not exactly funk, not exactly jazz. It’s more like a blend of Creole, jazz, Cajun and blues. The term itself is based off the French expression, “Les haricots ne sont pas salés”, or, “the snap beans aren’t salty.”

Basically, the term refers to hard times. It’s just that when zydeco came about in the 19th century in Louisiana, the folks didn’t exactly pronounce it in the correct French way. Nonetheless, a unique and spirited genre of music was born in the United States.

C.J. Chenier – born Clayton Joseph Thompson – has always been a natural musician, though it took years for him to follow his father’s steps in the zydeco scene.
He won a music scholarship to Texas Southern University, where he began to figure out exactly who he was – and what music fit him best.

During his college years, his father invited him to pay sax with his group, the Red Hot Louisiana Band. Years later when his dad grew ill, Chenier started playing accordion with the group, opening the shows and becoming a true member.

When his father passed away in 1987, Chenier, who once thought zydeco wasn’t his niche, picked up where his father left off. The Red Hot is now under his name, and the songs have his personal touch, whether Chenier plays accordion, saxophone, or is putting out his vocals.

“I play it the way I play it,” Chenier writes about his music. “All my father really told me was to do the best I could do with my own style.”

Attendees at Thursday’s dance party can expect not only to get up and boogie, but to also hear numbers from his six albums, from “Hot Rod” (1990) to “Step It Up!” (2004) and “The Desperate Kingdom of Love” (2006).

Not all of his songs are fast or funky; “Desperate Kingdom of Love,” for example, is a slower song perfect for a good two-step or slow dance. Chenier’s vocals are almost delicate in this song, reaching down into your core and giving it a tingle.

The accordion is an integral force in this song. However, it does not overwhelm or overpower the main focus of the tune, which is Chenier’s soulful chops that push forward, and then pull back, as he moans about the nature of love and what seekers go through to experience it.

Then come songs like “Finger Lickin’ Chicken,” and there’s nothing slow about it. It’s poppy, up-beat, and just wholesome fun. This show is good for anyone in the family, and will make you want to move.

Others in the business have also caught on to Chenier’s talents; he’s recorded and toured with Paul Simon (“The Rhythm of the Saints” and “Born at the Right Time”), as well as with the the Gin Blossoms (“New Miserable Experience”).

Regardless of who his collaborators are, you can know and appreciate that he takes pieces of his father with them into every song. On his latest album, Chenier went back to his father’s songbook for inspiration.

He recorded some of his dad’s best, such as “Bogalusa Boogie.” The album comprises a mix of family and heritage, comforting and healing, and a promise of hope.

Thursday’s performance is an all-ages show, and something worth attending. Tickets can be purchased online at (the-record-collector.com).