Highly skilled trios are common enough playing advanced swing or thoughtful chamber jazz and the members of Three Blind Mice are certainly capable of both. They have extensive backgrounds playing multiple styles from hot early jazz for dancers to straight ahead and bop.
The wonderful news for us is that, as the Mice, they choose to focus in on melody and bring us traditional jazz that climbs the fences of the genre without hopping over them. They've produced an exceptionally inventive, sometimes humorous and always delighting album. Their second as a group.
Australian born bass player Sébastien Girardot has now settled in France. His early background featured classical training and jazz experience with New Orleans style bands. He's now in demand across Europe and has joined Harry Allen, Cecile Mclorin Salvant, Dan Barrett, Evan Christopher, and Ken Peplowski on stage. He's recorded on GHB, Jazz Crusade, lejazzetal, Jazzology, and other labels. His other groups include La Section Rhythmique, a swing oriented quartet, another swing quartet focused at the moment on Charlie Christian material, and he was a founding member of Django à la Créole. He seems to be the force behind Three Blind Mice. He knows when to add a rhythmic boost, when to step up and when to fade away, helping to mold each track even where his contribution isn't prominent.
Girardot is prominent on two of my
