Mama Rosin and Moriarty: Calypso Triste

A video for the track Calypso triste by Mama Rosin and Moriarty, a collaboration featuring  Switzerland's
favourtite practitioners of spicy cajun folk  and the multinational music act that came out as a limited edition vinyl for this year's Record Store Day/Disquaire Day.

The two bands recorded five tracks together in February, and following the limited vinyl release made them available digitally in July.

They initially met up in 2009  at a festival in Lausanne in Switzerland and realised they shared tastes in music and philosophical outlooks, and played together at a number of festivals since.

This eventually led to the two acts recording their joint EP at the Studio Pigalle in Paris

Mama Rosin released their Bye Bye Bayou album in February, and have recently followed it up with a 'Director's Cut' version of the collection, featuring new songs

Moriarty, meanwhile, released their The Missing Room album in 2011.

The bands play together in October in Nancy and Paris.

Mama Rosin: The Boat Sessions #1

A great piece of video of our favourite Swiss Cajun act Mama Rosin.

They were playing as a session for World Music magazine Songlines.

I featured them a while back when they played in Glasgow as part of the Celtic Connections festival, it's great to hear them doing so well.

They've just toured the UK and Ireland, and are currently playing in Poland and Germany.

their most recent album Bye Bye Bayou was released in October last year, bringing another chapter in their punk-informed take on French Southern American music via the shores of Lake Geneva.

the album was produced by John Spencer, from the band Blues Explosion, who first came across Mama Rosin when they supported him during some of his gigs in Europe.

Nice to see them getting some of the attention they deserve.

There are some more dates in the Netherlands and Paris next month, and shows in Texas and Louisiana following that.

Mama Rosin: Seco e Mulhado

A new-ish track by Swiss band Mama Rosin, who take cajun music places its rarely been before.

The track comes from their forthcoming new album, which was produced and mixed in New York by Jon Spencer, from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

The album's expected out before the end of the year.

I featured them before in this blog, with their track Le pistolet, when they played the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow in 2011.

The band, a trio from near Lake Geneva, play a brew of traditional music from the southern states of the USA, where it was developed by the French immigrants who moved from Canada to Louisiana.

The band have been playing live dates in Canada and are due to play in Switzerland and in the UK, along with playing the Interceltique festival in L'Orient.

Despite their music coming from an old source, and the band coming geographically from a country far from where it was developed, Mama Rosin are keeping certainly keeping a tradition branch of French music alive.

Festivals: Glastonbury - KKC Orchestra

This weekend sees the UK's best-known music festival take place in Glastonbury, and a few French acts will be taking the stage.

While perhaps not sharing the pyramid stage with Beyonce, U2 or Coldplay, there are a few Franch acts on the bill that are worth catching.

Pony Pony Run Run play at Club Dada on Saturday.

Mama Rosin play at the Avalon Stage on Friday.

I've features both these bands before, and they're certainly worth seeing.

Meanwhile, one band I've not featured so far but who are also on the bill are KKC Orchestra, who also plays Club Dada, Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday.

The band, a four piece from Toulouse, released their first EP Dig Your Own Swing at the end of May.

They have a feelgood sound with a modern take of a jazzy swing, and seem the kind of band that would absolutely thrive in a live environment.

KKC Orchestra also plays three nights in Edinburgh in August during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Hopefully get along to see them if I can.

Live: Celtic Connections 2011

It is again the time of year when Glasgow gets a serious dose of Celtic music with the Celtic Connections festival taking place at venues across the city.

There are some 1500 artists and 300 events, ranging from big shows at the Royal Concert Hall to small workshop events for musicians, over a period of 18 days.

As expected, celtic music dominates the programme, but its always a wide and diverse bill, encompassing areas that have been influenced by celtic music such as americana and music with celtic roots from around the world.

Get full details of this year's Celtic Connections from the event's website>

However, for the Vive le Roq purposes the event is a little on the sparse side for French-related celtic music, disappointing when you consider the volume of celtic music from Brittany and how diverse it is.

Previous celtic Connections have seen the likes of Alan Stivell and (if I remember right...) Dan Ar Braz.

But all is not lost, mama Rosin, a Swiss cajun/zydeco act are playing in Glasgow as part of their UK tour

They're playing Glasgow on Jan 22, full details of their tour below the video for their song Le Pistolet