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Les Doigts De L'Homme (F,2007)***
Although this is packed with an amusement/entertainment approach, the musicians are not of easily satisfied "hum-papa" simplicity. While the cover shows a puppet music theatre it is, of course presented similarly, sitting in a bar and amaze the people with a clever attack on the strings fast like bullets. While the related common expression “droits de l’homme” means ‘human rights’, their group’s name means “men’s fingers”. And a finger fast cleverness is something all three musicians have. The swinging bass is played by Tanguy Blum, the banjo or guitar by Olivier Kikteff and the mandolin or rhythm guitar/charango by Yannick Alcorer. It is said they mix gypsy, jazz and rock, while there is often a constant hahahoho hophophop hicking and well played feasty fastness with especially much guitar virtuosity, this comes over like a Mexican seduction dance of bandits, brilliantly played so that they can run off unnoticed with the people’s money after having left them with the idea that their public had the best feast of their life ; but, behind all that, lie also some serious skills. The biography on their website explains how Olivier Kikteff first was interested in rockabilly. By chance he travelled to Burkina Faso to become a minor star with Bilaka Kora, touring with him for a year, while discovering African musical ideas, and learning to play kora, ballaphon and percussion. When he came back to France he played with several Afro-Jazz as well as Celtic groups. In 2002, in need for money he had to come up with something else, and he established a trio called Doights de l’Homme where he could combine all experiences, keeping a swing alive. Their first album led to a huge tour in France. Their seriousness can be heard in some of the instrumentals, especially when going toward a more jazzy approach, where they suddenly sound not only clever but also blood serious and blending styles (just listen to “LeValse des Rois” or “les doights dans la bossa”, or “Blue Sky”, between jazz & ska, or on “Cuba-Texas” (the name explains it). There are several songs on this album too (in French), but the instrumental part, as instrumentals or arrangements leads enough it doesn’t matter at all for those listeners who don’t understand this. Even when this concept of a group is meant to entertain, the way that they show their creative skills make it worth experiencing from various directions.
