Singer and accordionist Jasmine is reminiscing about her home town, New York and the reasons
she left. “It’s simple. I just got sick of living there! I was singing and playing accordion in clubs with a repertoire
of reprises, French songs and some original stuff. There just
wasn’t a wide public for what I was doing, and I must say that
at that stage my music wasn’t really together, it was more like kitchen music. But still, the reaction was
often, you know, an accordion...? In the States you find accordions
in Cajun music!” Weren’t her audiences aware of the traditions
associated with the instrument such as chanson or tango...? She
laughs. “We don’t really relate to historical cultural traditions
in the States. If you want that, you come to Europe.”
So Jasmine came to Europe, which was more in tune with her style,
based on chanson, cabaret, sprechstimme and performance art, and
featuring lyrics in English and French. Nearly six years ago,
she formed Jasmine Bande with bassist Stephen Harrison and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Doherty. “Joseph and Stephen were in a band prior to ours, ‘Sons of the
Desert,’ and had built up such a musical complicity that they
had to keep playing together. Now that Joseph lives in Toulouse,
the band gives them the opportunity to still hang out together,
so they’re never going to leave me, which is great because I love
working with them!” In 1997, they put out their first CD, “didjoohaffun,” which received regular airplay on FIP and regional stations.
One of the venues the band worked regularly was L’Atmosphère, a bar on the Canal St-Martin, which has recently fallen victim
to Paris’ draconian anti-noise laws. Still, in hommage to the
bar’s role in fostering live music, France’s premier chanson festival,
Chorus des Hauts-de-Seine recently gave L’Atmosphère carte blanche
to program an evening’s entertainment on March 15. L’Atmosphère chose Jasmine Bande, along with two more of its
favored acts: Les Enfants des Autres and the world music-inspired group, Natimbalès. Other performers
featured during the three week festival include stars such as
Renaud, Juliette Greco, Paris Combo, Patricia Kaas and Juliette.
Clearly overjoyed by it all, Jasmine Bande has also made it through
to the finals of Chorus’17thTremplin de la Chanson.. “It is certainly
a kind of acceptance into the French music community, and that’s
the community we have chosen to work in.” Next up is a new CD
that will make use of lots of over-dubbing and samples. “We’re
going into the 21st Century like everyone else!”
Jasmine Bande Mar 15, L’Escale, 25, rue de la Gare, Levallois,
SNCF Clichy Levallois, tel: 01.42.70.83..84, 8:30pm. Mar 17, Palais
des Arts et des Congrès, 25, av Victor Cresson, Issy-Les-Moulineaux,
M° Mairie d’Issy, tel: 01.46.42.70.91, 7:30pm.
