Paris Musette Volume 3: Vent D'automne

The Paris Musette series which begun in 1990 continues with this third volume subtitled "Autumn Wind." The original concept of the series was like that of Buena Vista Social Club: to take the great old music and reinvent it with a few extra instruments and new arrangements. In this volume, the concept has been expanded to include new compositions alongside the old. The theme of the album is a mixture: it was originally intended to consist of early musette and music written to resemble musette from the 19th century when the small bagpipe known as the cabrette was used instead of the accordion, as well as musette from the "coal-cafes" where jazz influences from 1920s America started to be heard. However, the untimely deaths of three of the veteran musicians led the producers to discontinue the series, and so several pieces of exotic music from what would have been volume four are also included. The third volume is interesting to the student of musical history, but it mostly lacks the immediate appeal of the original album. Some tracks are engaging in their own way, however. The neo-musette piece for solo accordion, "Roger Venitien," is jazzy and inventive. "Les Nocturnes" is an epic just over four minutes long, going from thunderstorm to music box to 1920s nightclub jazz, complete with chanteuse; it's a potent fantasy. "Titine" is a javanaise; its limber accordion and lumbering bassline are seductive indeed. The "world music" influences on what started as French peasant music are really quite astounding. This disc is recommended for those who want to investigate the cross-cultural connection and for those intrigued by the unexplored possibilities of this most charming of musical forms. ~ Kurt Keefner