BATON BLEU – WEIRD & WOMDERFUL TALES (DIXIEFROG 2019)
A real discovery! This acoustic duo fed on early blues is playing folk music coming from elsewhere. Using strange and unusual music instruments such as the mongolian luth or the kalimba, the duo creates music linking the USA to Central Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean. Gautier?s growling voice echoing Marias?s celestial harmonies are telling us strange and wonderful stories that could have happen to us. For those 
who like : Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Karen Dalton, Leadbelly, Blind Willie Johnson, Dead Can Dance…
This is a case of a brave and praiseworthy first effort that requires some refinement on the vocal front in English, but is certainly heading in the right direction from an instrumental perspective. As with perfecting any foreign language, spending time in the country of origin is indispensable and both members of Bâton Bleu would find that their mastery of the English language and ability to ad-lib comes on leaps and bounds with greater exposure to native speaker American voices as well as continuing listening to the original music. Full marks to DixieFrog for putting the music out there in the first place.
NMR (photo: press)
