New Orleans inspired jazz cooked in an Auvergne (Central France) sauce. Toe tappin' dance music for ages 1 to 111.

15 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, JAZZ: Dixieland

Show all album songs: C'est Pas Ma Faute (It Ain't My Fault) Songs


Details:
The region of Auvergne in Central France is best known for its volcanoes, its delicious cheese and its miserable wine. Puy de Dôme, Saint Nectaire and headaches in the morning are traditional features of the region. Another notable landmark, Sac à Pulses, a New Orleans style jazz band from Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of Auvergne, has been praised as one of France's finest jazz bands.

Sac à Pulses serves up jazz instrumentals and vocals in a cocktail of styles: 2- & 4-beat swing, Charleston, beguine, blues, boogie-woogie, Cajun and modern New Orleans parade rhythms are all on their rhythmic buffet. Dancers and concert goers, seasoned jazz fans and casual listeners, the young and the not-so-young are all equally satisfied.

Although Sac à Pulses' instrumentation somewhat mimics the late Sidney Bechet's Parisian bands, their influences don't stop there. Sac à Pulses has plucked tunes from the legendary repertoires of Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, among many others. Furthermore, Sac à Pulses has written French lyrics to many of the classic jazz standards, consequently presenting a new twist to familiar melodies. Sac à Pulses also plays popular French songs by the likes of George Brassens, Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf.

Studying the recordings from the classic jazz era and more contemporary flavors of jazz shape the sound of Sac à Pulses. Still, academics never interfere with the spontaneity nor the creativity of the group. Each musician freely expresses his own personality.

The Musicians
Christian Vaudecranne - Soprano Saxophone and Vocals;
Pierre Guicquéro - Trombone and Vocals;
Marc Verne - Washboard and Drums;
Gary Kiser - Tuba and Vocals;
Pierre 'Jules' Verne - Alto guitar.

The name Sac à Pulses literally means sack of pulses or rhythm bag. This is a play on words in French. The French use the same expression for an old dog as in English, flea bag or sac à puce. Considering the words pulses and puce are pronounced similarly, the name Sac à Pulses on our bass drum solicits many smiles from our French audiences.

Sac à Pulses is equally comfortable playing acoustically or with amplification and has ample experience with all types of affairs: dance halls, concerts halls, theatres, jazz festivals, jazz clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels, embassies, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, parades, carnivals, fairs, etc.

Sac à Pulses' recordings: Passport to Paradise (2001); C'est Pas Ma Faute (1999); Les Pulses (1995); Them There Eyes (1993)