LE GRAND BATON

The Caribbean gave birth to what seems to be the foundation for these 14 creations (the fifteenth a plead to not copy this release) - a a particular type of drum called Ka - referred to as a slave drum; with references to the dark period of mankind when slavery was common as the origin of that reference.

Quirky, wild and often tribal and ethnic sounding beats from regular drums and this instrument is the backbone on everything here, and the first half a dozen tracks or so are the wildest, with distorted guitars and bass combined with rhythms and eerie vocals to produce what sounds like a post-apocalyptic zombie feast.

The music gets more mellow and jazz-tinged as the album evolves, ending up in musical territories pretty close to what Norwegian sax player Bendik Hofseth produced on his debut 20 years ago. It's a fascinating ride in different musical territories, and as long as the Creole vocals aren't regarded as troublesome a ride many should enjoy.