Among what is now a plethora of artists and groups playing the traditional music of Francophone Canada, the trio Vishtèn is taking things in a different direction. Their release Mosaïk could maybe be described as progressive Acadian, in much the way that I think of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys as progressive Cajun.
Vishtèn is twin sisters Emmanuelle LeBlanc (whistle, piano, percussion, and vocals) and Pastelle LeBlanc (accordion, foot percussion and vocals) and fiddler, mandolin player, and guitarist Pascal Miousse, who also sings. The LeBlancs are from Prince Edward Island, Pascal from Quebec’s Magdalen Islands. Mosaïk is their fourth release, following two studio recordings and a live disc, as well as a couple of songbooks, all since 2004. Their last release was Live in 2008, though, and in the intervening four years they reworked their sound and approach.
Nowhere is that more apparent than on the final song on this 12-track CD, a reimagining of the traditional song “L’Âme à P’tit Jean.” On the old song’s sturdy chord progression they’ve hung a bunch of new trappings. It opens with the droning of a synthesizer (a Moog according to their publicity material) and Quebecois-style foot percussion, followed by a melody plucked out on a twangy, Southwestern-style electric guitar; the vocals when they do begin have heavy reverb. Midway through the song, and a very catchy one it is, comes a snatch or two of a tune in double-waltz time, and some insistent piano chords in a jazz-influenced contrapuntal rhythm. Pretty heady stuff! To be sure, this is the final track on the disc, a position traditionally given over to experimentation and perhaps foreshadowing of the direction the musicians are heading in the future. But there are similar non-traditional elements throughout Mosaïk.
On the ballad “Je Pars” which has some lovely three-part harmonies and foot percussion and a tune reminiscent of the old folk standard “House of the Rising Sun,” they take off on a jazz-like excursion through chord changes and unexpected twists from the accordion and whistle. “Les Yeux Noir” is a dark ballad in double-waltz time, with a Moog that sounds more like a Mellotron behind the acoustic guitar, foot percussion, electric guitar. It closes in a more traditional acoustic mode with some pretty remarkable picking by Pascal. “Le Printemps” is a contemporary-sounding ballad with an indie-folk sound, particularly from the beguiling minor-key harmonies.
But there are some more traditional offerings. The twins sing a duet on the opener, “Tobie Lapierre,” a driving reel, accompanied by fiddle, bodhran and jaw harp plus Pascal in harmony on the choruses. “Shetland Magical Bus” is an accordion-led instrumental that’s a lot of fun. Pastelle’s style on it reminds me a lot of Sharon Shannon’s in its fluidity and liberal use of grace notes. “Pour Jacob” is a pretty straight gigue on guitar and piano with foot percussion; Emmanuelle plays an extended whistle tuned “Tutti Flutti”; and Pascal sings lead on a fairly traditional call-and-response song, “Le Vieux Pi la Vieille” – traditional except for the obvious use of the Moog. My favorites are “4:44,” a driving reel that is mostly instrumental with feet, jaw harp and fiddle, with harmonized mouth music by all three and a nifty whistle solo too; and the penultimate, “La Tempête des Glaces,” a traditional-sounding Quebecois tune with just accordion and fiddle in unison for long stretches, piano and fiddle at other times and low whistle at others – it’s just a very exciting and pleasing tune from excellent players.
I for one don’t mind the non-trad touches like electric guitar and even the Moog, which is a very old-school synth. But I’m not crazy about the overall production, which includes some of what I think of as “New-Age Celtic” sounds, including a subtle doubling of the whistle and vocals, and especially a general gloss on the overall sound. It may make the music more familiar-sounding to your typical “Celtic” fan. But to me it’s a distraction and it’s not really necessary with musicians this talented – check out the live video of “Tutti Fluti,” for example:
And for a taste of Vishtèn’s handling of a song, with those lovely sibling harmonies, here’s “Tobie LaPierre.”
There’s more at Vishtèn’s website and on Facebook.
