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Reviews |
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Ar'h
tes Bretelles
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Katskoo January 2010 English dancers (and a visiting Australian) doing French dances to French music and Scandi dances to Scandinavian music, played by some Belgian musicians was the scene on January 16th at Elmswell! Burybal, now in its 5th year, maintains its tradition of introducing exciting musicians from abroad to Suffolk. The January Bal was something of a ‘blind date’ as Bof! had become acquainted with Katskoo through Myspace, and had admired their music. The rendezvous came up to expectations, as Katskoo’s live sound was even better than we had anticipated. Equally enthused, the dancers kept dancing until we had to close the hall! The line-up is Wim Poesed on flutes, saxophone, pipes; Leo Rutten on accordeon; and Reinout Bertels on guitar. They played fluently, with a good driving pace for the dancers. Their music for the French dance was interesting with influences from other genres, such as Irish and their native, Flemish; but these did not detract from the strong rhythms supporting the French dance. They finished their set with a haunting tune, composed by Wim, ‘Waltz for Polle’ which was familiar to many musicians and dancers. Bof! provided excellent support as ever, and we were treated to a couple of tunes and a new dance from the visiting duo, Mistral, who had played at a previous Bal. The next event is May 15th, when Dave Shepherd of Blowzabella will be playing for us.
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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
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La Mère Folle On Saturday May 26th 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 15th 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!
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The Debut of Les Hauts Esprits.
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