« A delight from start to finish » by Blues&Rhythm

The sound of this CD bears more than a passing resemblance to the likes of Robert Crumb’s Cheap Suit Serenaders, though with a strongly Gallic touch. Perharps that is not too surprising though. The line-up of this french aggregation is rather flexible, and varies between the six tracks of the original 1986 album that bore the same title as this CD, and a further twelve tracks - including four live recordings - from previously unreleased private tapes made in the ‘70s and originally credited as ‘Bluestory’ and ‘The New Blue 4’, though guitarists Didier Roussin and Dominique Cravic appear on all, and harmonica player Olivier Blavet makes all but the last brace. Oh, and Robert Crumb himself is on that first album on mandolin (and he is also responsible for the cover illustration) ! The sound is highly accomplished, rather relaxed knockabout, and sometimes slightly off-kitter blues (Didier likes to play bottleneck, Dominique prefers Blind Blake) and jazz, as titles such as ‘Eddie & Lonnie’ or ‘Leecan & Cooksey’ might indicate. The collective experience of these guys runs from Slim Gaillard, singer DeeDee Bridgewater and cool jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz, the free jazz player Steve Lacy, Belgian harmonica maestro Toots Thielemans, bal musette and veteran French rocker Eddy Mitchell, and they bring it (nearly) all to bear on this wonderful release. Harmonica ace Jean-Jacques Milteau also appears, and some may recall vocalist Guy Lefebvre who sings on one track. The last two titles are a homage to Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang from around 1981, with Dominique Pifarely supplying the hot violin licks. A delight from start to finish. Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM

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