THE JAZZGAZETTE

Information and contact magazine for New Orleans jazz and other traditional jazz styles buffs
Août / Septembre 2002
 

SWEET MARY CAT & THEIR NORTH AMERICAN FRIENDS – TIME TO DANCE
JAZZ CRUSADE JCCD-3079
Audiophile Studio, New Orleans, april 15th 2002

(…) What amazes me is how three people from France, one from New Orleans, two Canadians and two guys from Connecticut manage to step into a studio and, in one session, record enough excellent material to fill almost two CDs.(…) A three piece front line improvising together is already a serious accomplishment. Add a fourth horn and it becomes a small miracle if they end up with the integrated and harmonious ensembles we have here.

" Time to dance ", they couldn't have chosen a better title. This is real New Orleans dance music. This was an additional challenge, this was not just a jazz session, but a New Orleans jazz dance session. I wonder if there were any dancers that day in George Buck's Audiophile Studio, but I can easily imagine them. All the tempos without an exception, invite to dance.

In this french-American/Canadian connection Jacques Gauthé could be seen as the 'rait d'union" (hyphen) between the two groupes. Norn in France but living in New Orleans for many, many years, a student of Bechet and an exceptionally fine musician, he was the right person in the right place at the right time.
Marie Dandrieux, Christian Genin and Jean-Pierre Alessi are all members of Sweet Mary Cat, one of the few french bands playing in the authentic New Orleans style. (...)

Close your eyes, imagine you're in New Orleans somewhere in the forties at the house of rather rich family (otherwise they couldn't afford a band of this size!), there is a party going on for someone's anniversary, a wedding or any other celebration. The band starts to play and immediately the dance floor is filled with dancing couples...
(…)

Marcel JOLY