Bury Bal - Reviews

Reviews

Ar'h tes Bretelles A

Ar’h tes Bretelles at Burybal, May 17^th, 2008

We were privileged to welcome back to Suffolk’s Burybal Benoit Michaud and his amazing band A’r tes Bretelles. Bretelles is French for braces and appropriately the group sported bright red braces to complement their striking black outfits . Benoit, a fast rising star in the French folk scene, is a supremely talented and innovative young hurdy gurdy player. Under his direction the band’s exciting music has an energy and drive that makes it impossible not to dance. Benoit’s arrangements were supported by flute, guitar and African percussion, providing pace, sensitive harmonies and pulsating cross rhythms which drove the music in an unusual way whilst maintaining a strong dance beat. The enthusiasm of the dancers, who filled the floor all evening was proof of this! This young group is one to watch!

The evening was started by local band Bof! whose performance never fails to provide good traditional music and song, some of it penned by members of the band. Some of their tunes came from their latest CD, La Vache qui Danse. Their authentic French sound is melodic with beautiful and thoughtful harmonies which build from the different instruments as the tune progresses.

The next Burybal, September 20^th, welcomes La Mere Folle from the Morvan, France – another of France’s top festival bands. They will be supported by talented local group, Metro, who are continuing to build up a varied repertoire of French dance music

Linda Jones

Bury Bal

Chemins de Traverse at Elmswell

The Paris-based French dance band Chemins de Traverse hit The Blackbourne (Village hall) in Elmswell on Saturday 15th September with the full range of popular traditional dances - bourrees, waltzes, scottishes, mazurkas, polkas and more – to the delight of a capacity audience.

Les Hauts Esprits kicked off the evening, and the dance floor was alive with couples from their first number. This local five-piece "French" band has gone from strength to strength during the past year with their line-up of diatonic accordeon, clarinet-oboe-fiddle, flute-recorder, guitar and percussion. They seem to have a knack of choosing delightful melodies and then arranging them imaginatively, so that their music is good both for listening to and dancing to.

Just after 8.45, Chemins de Traverse attacked their first set with a passion that set the tone for the rest of the evening. The hurdy-gurdy of Benoit Michaud and the double-bass of Caroline Tomba provided a perfect rhythmic accompaniment to melodies provided by the chromatic accordeon of Francois Tillerot and the bagpipes of Philippe Suzanne. This group of superb musicians were joined towards the end of the evening by Blowzabella's Dave Shepherd on violin.

The majority of English ceilidh bands in recent years have tended to use the diatonic accordeon (otherwise known as the melodeon), and this instrument is also used extensively by many French dance bands. The pull-push mechanics of these instruments provides rhythm but also limits the melodies that can be played. However, the use of the chromatic accordeon by Chemins de Traverse allows the band to include more complex melodies in their repertoire, and is largely responsible for their "bal musette" or "Paris-accordeon" sound, which conjures up scenes of late-19th century Parisian cafe life, where musicians from the Auvergne played dance music – first on bagpipes and later on Italian accordeons - for the thousands of their compatriots who had moved to the capital to find work.

Chemins de Traverse went on to play for a dance group in Kent on Sunday 16th before returning to France after a brilliant weekend.

The next Bury Bal takes place on January 12 2008 when we welcome The Drift. This band from mid-Sussex features musicians from the great band Rosbif, the first group of English musicians to introduce French dance music to the British folk scene.

To keep up-to-date with Bury Bal events check their website at www. burybal.com

Simon Haines 2007

La Mère Folle

On Saturday May 26^th the French band, La Mère Folle, came to play at Elmswell for the sixth Burybal. Their performance was a real treat and it was a disappointment for the organisers that there were not more people at the dance considering the high calibre of musicianship on show. The band come from the Morvan area of France, and the leader of the band, Yves Grosprêtre, is an authority on the music of the region. Many of the tunes played by the band were collected by him and so we were introduced to a whole raft of music not usually heard in England. With a classic line up of Hurdy Gurdys, bagpipes, accordion and percussion, the five piece band blasted through two hours of exciting, dynamic dance music which kept everybody on their feet until the dance closed at 11.45pm. Support for La Mère Folle came from Bof!, who skilfully warmed the night up with a variety of dances from France and Brittany from their growing repertoire. This band continues to develop a tight and driving sound, which captures the essential essence of the French Bal tradition.

The next Burybal takes place on September 15^th when François Tillerot, the accordion player from La Mère Folle, will return with another five piece line up, based in Paris, called Chemins de Traverse. This includes another musician, Benoid Michaud, who has delighted Burybal previously. They will be supported by local band, Les Hauts Esprits. We look forward to a packed dance hall for a quality night of French music and dance. See you there!

The Debut of Les Hauts Esprits.

September 16th saw the first public performance of a new French music band from the Sudbury area. Les Hauts Esprits comprise six musicians, (see photo), ably led by Roland Carson on melodeon. They gave a cracking 40 minute performance of dance tunes from central France to the appreciation of a large & enthusiastic group of dancers. Les Hauts Esprits were supporting the excellent local French & Breton music band, Bof! from whom they had taken some of their inspiration at the monthly dance workshops.

Bof! played an interesting set comprising of some new tunes extending their repertoire of dances to include a greater variety of Breton dances. One unusual aspect of their performance amongst English bands is the singing of songs for the dance. We still await the debut of Val's new pipe bought at the Anost festival this summer!