Led by button accordionist and singer Odile Lavault, the Baguette Quartette plays the music heard in the cafés and dance halls of her native Paris during the first half of the twentieth century: valse musette -- a blend of folk music from Auvergne, Paris, and Italy flavored by Gypsy musicians who added a taste of American swing; java -- a Parisian dance patterned after the mazurka; foxtrot -- which has its roots in the March and the Polka; paso doble -- reminiscent of the Spanish music played at bullfights; tango -- which became popular in Parisian dance halls in the 1920s; and realistic -- depicting life in pessimistic overtones with more than its share of misdeeds and unrequited love. Odile and the band -- Rachel Durling on violin, string bassist, Richard Trevor, and Will Bernard on guitar -- recently released its second album, Chez Moi. |