Live in concert August "Kid Creole" Darnell is one of the true greats.

He has the presence and charisma of Michael Jackson, in his prime; a Latino Cab Calloway with all the right tunes, and even hotter dance steps.

Never miss the chance to see Creole either in concert or in the role of Brutus T Firefly in the long-running musical extravaganza Oh What A Night, it will enrich your life.

Capturing the magic of such a dynamic performer on CD is quite a task. Flip Flop & Fly - My Gal's A Jockey and Let's Jam are fun Latin-fused workouts, with clever, humorous lyrics. But, somehow, on CD they seem rather two dimensional, which is a shame.

The Zoot- suited one updates the saga of Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy with new songs Who's Your Daddy Now and I'm Not Your Papa. One would have thought that Annie would have got the message by now.

These are joyous songs that will please the fans, who will delight in the remake of Endicott and the title track Too Cool To Conga. A new Creole album is always a treat, but the joy would be perfected if only that exuberance of the live performances could be captured on record.

Updated: 08:49 Thursday, September 02, 2004