Ti Flanboyan • Crawfish Wallet Cellos Project

Crawfish Wallet is a hot jazz quartet out of Bordeaux, France featuring banjo, bass, trombone, and a washboard in the hands of a talented vocalist with a uniquely broad range. For their third album since 2018 they are joined by three classical cellists to bring their already hefty sound to a whole new level. It’s gloriously different. In the wrong hands a string section can mute the passion right out of jazz, here it pushes band and singer to even greater heat. While playing pure traditional jazz the younger members of the band come from a diverse musical background including, rock, reggae, and hip hop. Amandine Cabald-Roche, having studied classical guitar, has a pure expressive talent as a vocalist that I am sure has made her welcome in any project. She could sing R&B, folk ballads, or anything else, she swings the heck out of a jazz lyric, and her washboard, while not particularly prominent on this album, adds a flourish. The trombonist, Gaëtan Martin, fell in love with New Orleans music on several trips to the city, and plays with feeling. Bassist Frédéric Lasnier and banjo Jean-Michel Plassan seem to have a musical partnership predating the band and are as tight as clockworks. The cellists joining them are Elisa Dignac, Lili Richard, and Hélène Seguin. Intensity abounds on a hard hitting album I played loud. Their last release, titled I’m in NOLA, was a tribute to