Resolument Bleu

Description

When he feels the time has come to record an album, Benoît doesn't nibble on his pencil in front of a blank page. He is the blank page; he sings himself mental drafts. If a phrase doesn't pass the oral test, he sings another one. He has always managed on his own, having understood from the start that record labels would never let him record blues in French. His unique and fluid style, this Franco-Louisiana transatlantic skiff, is a biological exudate caused by all these ups and downs. It's a bit like having blue eyes or wearing size 44 shoes, and it didn't start yesterday. The discography of Triple B is a long tracking shot that swallows six presidents of the Republic and 18 prime ministers, witnesses the disappearance of dances, accordion kings, the franc, cars with ashtrays, and concert halls with smokers, and the arrival of pineapple pizza, Tex-Mex cuisine, and spritz, which survives the Saturday nights of Jean-Pierre Foucault, the Sunday afternoons of Jacques Martin and Michel Drucker. It is also whispered that BBB gives survival courses to young guerrillas of the FM band. The first meeting with Nico Duportal was scheduled in 2017 for the 25-centimeter A Boire Et A Manger A St-Germain Des Prés. Benoît could finally immerse himself in the brass without having to run all the way to a suburb of Austin, he who despaired of finding in France musicians capable of grasping something of rhythm and blues. It is still Nico Duportal who produces this 17th album, and he pushes the fire under Benoît's swamp like never before, with generously rounded shuffles, twangy baritone, and that JD Miller touch accentuated by a simplified harmonica play. The album, captured almost live, required no more preparation than the others. The two guitarists, Nico and Stan Noubard Pacha, met one afternoon at his place for a rehearsal, and then Benoît relied as always on the instinct of his musicians, particularly the two who came from the Duportal house, drummer Pascal Mucci and Alexis Bertein. Alex, who plays sax with Nico, handles the brass section, the organ, and especially the bass here. Do you need to be sharp to produce a record that spins this smoothly from this franquette!