Carcassonne Jam - L'Opera Bouffe -France March 1, 2006 |
||
| Movies and/or sound files here! | ||
| Sorry about the photo quality....it was a bit dark
The is the great poster that the folks at L'Opera Bouffe had made to advertise (!!) the jam...
Sweet Home Chicago....as sung by Bruno, who also runs the best creperie south of Quimper
Sabine and Heike
Alexandrine (Proprietaire of L'Opera Bouffe) had a good time dancing behind the bar
|
The Elmtree Blues Jam in France: #2: laissez le bon temps roullez! The Second Elmtree Jam in France was held in Carcassonne Wednesday March 1, 2006, in the upstairs (premier etage, or first floor) bar of a fine local restaurant, L'Opera Bouffe, thanks to the generous proprietors Alexandrine and Pierre. The festivities began with a brief set from the down-to-Earth and authentic blues trio, "Chasin' Charley's Ghost" http://www.chasincharleysghost.com/ who set a wonderfully relaxed and down-home tone, then our core Elmtree Jam start-off group came up, featuring french Elmtree mainstays guitarist/singer/harp player/impresario Jeff H (http://jeffhug.free.fr/), myself (Dave F) and drummer, singer and harp player Michel Geronimo ( http://www.lesoldies.com/), plus singer/bassist Fabienne, percussionist Marilyne, and bassist Mike and on and on, with more than a dozen other brave and cheerful souls joining the jam throughout the evening, entertaining the fifty-plus friends, new and old, who traveled from all over the region, even as far as Cannes (4 hours!) to enjoy this rare event, a real, laid-back, gut-bucket, Elmtree Blues Jam. In France. The room was softly lit, well-appointed and comfortable, a well-used dance floor surrounded by couches filled with people, with several side-rooms lined with overstuffed seats. We were well-equipped with a P.A. from Espace Music in Carcassonne, and of course a whole slew of great musicians, these folks know the blues and music and how to share, if we had more lights we might have some pictures to show you, we do have a few short audio clips that may clean up well enough to post. You'll just have to take my word until Louisa retouches our photos so they're light enough and until I work on the audio files. The other many wonderful performers included ( don't have names & links for all, regrettably) Barefoot Iano http://www.barefootiano.com/, Chris the Cat, the Catalan bluesman from Perpignan (Cliquez ici for a sound clip of Chris and the Elmtree Chorus!!!!)(Cliquez ici for a sound clip of Chris and the Elmtree Chorus!!!!), Pierre Pheline who belted out some soulful Elvis numbers, harp player/singer David Sarraud from Tierra Madre restaurant in Narbonne (our first jam venue in France in December http://www.texfred.com/tierra/), also Bruno, the blues-belting proprietor of our favorite creperie (in Lezignan http://cocosweet.monsite.wanadoo.fr/ )and of course the three wildmen which comprise Chasin' Charley's Ghost stayed with us and sat in periodically. One key musician was sorely missed, Nico Fouquet, harmonica player extraordinaire and (along with David Sarraud & Jeff H) is an Elmtree Impresario in France. Nico fell sick suddenly with a 24 hour gastro bug, he was terribly disappointed not to be at the jam and is eager to make it up next time. And in California! The musicians and friends filled the room at L'Opera Bouffe with fine music and the great warmth and spirit which comes from well-played, heart-felt, home-brewed Blues. We jammed from about 8:30 pm to 2 am, after which a friend invited a dozen of the musicians over to his nearby beautiful home for some wonderful onion soup, red wine and brilliant conversation until 4 a.m.! A Bientot!
Jeff Hug holds down the fort yet again....
Soup a l'oignon at around 2:30 am.....just the thing for a little pick me up!
Barefoot (Pied nu?) Iano show 'em how...
Barefoot Iano in Dave and Louisa's kitchen a few hours later.... Note the T-Shirt!!
|
|
|
|
||
 | | |
Pierre Pheline gets 'em dancin with a little Elvis. (and another round
for the Claude Fouquet guitar)
