Baron Samedi Percussions – La Fête Des Têtus
From Baron Samedi ‎Percussions – À Fleur De Peau
Released on Instant Présent, 1985, France

While looking for French music, spotting the name Le Baron on a record sleeve is often a good omen, for it is a nickname used by the most famous French « obscure » producer and library wizard, Bernard Estardy. But for once, Estardy has nothing to do with this record. Baron Samedi Percussions is Michel Boiton, Doukkali and Alain Chaléard, all three of them being drummers and percussionists.

The album is all about French musicians jamming with a wide range of percussions, and the result coud have been a pretentious and boring contemporary jazz album… but it’s not. La Fête Des Têtus is one of the many good tracks on À Fleur De Peau. 

The three musicians master their instruments and don’t need to show off with never ending solos : insisting on the hypnotic power of Balafon, they rather work carefully on the arrangements. We love how the song change radically 2:17 : played at the right time in a packed club, this will drive the crowd mad (we tested it a few months ago with Jan Schulte).