All I know about The Rag Messengers is that they hail from Montpellier, France, and play New Orleans jazz as hot as the weather there this August. You can catch them at Ascona or on their new six track album, Supraton in Marrakouch. I could find no meaning to Supraton outside of a branded item of industrial machinery, but Marrakouch refers to the city of Marrakesh in Morroco. A romantic destination for tourists in seek of the exotic. A natural place for spicy jazz.
The band is drummer Ophélie Luminati, clarinettist Ezequiel Celada and pianist Auguste Caron. They are joined by Vincent Bassou for a single vocal on “Sweet Substitute.” Other tracks include “Fussin,” “Martinique,” “Original Jelly Roll Blues,” “Shreveport Stomp,” and the title track, a band original I assume, is a great arrangement.
The band claims inspiration from Jelly Roll Morton, Baby Dodds, and young Duke Ellington, but then who doesn’t? They do achieve a hot sound that all of our readers will enjoy. Lots of dynamic interplay, and excellent reedwork on clarinet and soprano sax dominate. Hot stride playing, and prominent drums complete an excellent ride. It is certainly worth the seven euros ($8 USD) to say you follow this impressive trio from France. You will also find several videos of them playing the street in tourist districts on YouTube.
