Chico Chica
London, England, United Kingdom | INDIE
Music
Press
Released in October 2011, Mélangerie is Chico Chica's debut album. Chico Chica are a trio consisting of Hilary Cameron, vocals, piano, and flute; Tom Hannah, vocals, guitar; and Barbara Snow, vocals, trumpet, and flugelhorn.
An excellent trio, if perhaps a somewhat unusual one. However, Chico Chica sound exceedingly good together, and the combination works beautifully. The musicianship is superb all round. Snow's flugel and trumpet stand out particularly. They are supplemented by Ruth Bitelli, electric bass, Les Cirkel, drums & percussion, Roy Dodds, drums & percussion, and Andy Lafone, electric bass.
Latin flavoured pop-jazz is perhaps the easiest way to describe Chico Chica's music. All eight songs are originals, one of them additionally credited to Andy Lafone. The compositions are pleasant and it would be hard to find fault with them. However, the brevity of Mélangerie at just shy of half an hour might be a point of contention in the age of the CD and digital download. Just one or two more songs would have been more satisfying.
The lyrics are mostly in English, one mixed, with one song in French and another in Spanish. The music presented on Mélangerie is catchy, cool, and highly enjoyable. Nothing too heavyweight, just the perfect album to chill with and keep the foot tapping. I found this album very likeable on first listen, and the more I hear it the more I like it! At the moment, immensely so.
Not only remarkably consistent, especially so for a debut album, but thoroughly compelling, Mélangerie is an album you can and will want to listen to again. It has its own kind of charm and beauty and is a very polished effort for a debut. There is something about this music that quickly turns out to be infectious.
Chico Chica's Mélangerie is a highly enjoyable listen that no-one even remotely into Latin sounds will want to miss out on. Chill with Mélangerie!
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- Rainlore's World of Music
Discography
Mélangerie - CD Album 2011
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Bio
The Story.....
Hilary Cameron, Tom Hannah and Barbara Snow are three London based professional musicians who had known and worked with each other for many years but never as a trio. However, on one auspicious, balmy July evening in 2010, chance was to bring them together on what at first seemed, an unremarkable, casual engagement..
Such was the magic of the synergy, Hilary, with the warm evening air creating a frisson of movement in her flame-red hair, boldly declared: ‘This is no ordinary combination - it has a musical energy which I have never experienced before.’ Tom, his steely blue eyes gazing at the darkening horizon, took a sip of his whisky and soda agreed: ‘I feel an indescribable creative vibration and a star-bursting promise.’ Barbara, ever-thoughtful, spoke with a resolute chime in her voice: ‘Then this is the band we have been waiting all our lives to form. It will be Jazz-Pop band with a strong Latin influence.’ She became animated, her flowing silk dress reflecting the moonlight. ‘We will write songs that capture the spirit of the age and vibrate to the energy of an impeccable world and stuff.’ Tom and Hilary nodded in rapturous agreement.
And at the very moment, in a distant copse, a nightingale sang. As it happened, it was a tune not that dissimilar to Quizas, Quizas, Quizas. Chico Chica was born.
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