Le Chat Brel

French violinist Gabriel Bismut met Italian accordion player Maurizio Minardi while playing jazz in Paris four years ago. They discovered a shared passion for the music of French new wave films and modern chanson, especially the forthright performance of Jacques Brel, hence the title of their first album together. They ramble about musically, with touches of tango, whimsical waltzes and baroque flourishes. It all sounds quintessentially French – and yet also Italian.

‘Le Coq Baroque’ is, indeed, a rather cocky, strutting melody. Another avian inspiration, ‘Penguin’, sways charmingly, in the way the birds do as they waddle comically across the Antarctic ice. Each of the 12 compositions is by Bismut or Minardi but Le Chat Brel is the work of an acoustic jazz quartet, with Barthélemy Seyer playing tasty licks on guitar, for instance during ‘Fleur du Hasard’, and Maurizio Congiu underpinning it all with his double bass. These tunes are quirky, touching and humorous, like many of the films of the nouvelle vague, but they also gather with the intensity of Brel. In ‘Tulipano Nero’ rapidly repeated phrases, reminiscent of Philip Glass, are overlaid with long violin notes, sweeping like blades, while the clacking buttons of Minardi’s accordion provides percussion. It’s somehow cinematic – and somewhat disturbing.