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Madam Flo And The BonTonRoulet

About Me



MADAM FLO AND THE BONTONROULET
PRESS QUOTES"An outfit who are forging a reputation as one of the most unique and refreshing bands on the London circuit in recent times. [...] Roots music for those willing to try out the challenging and radical.” UK Rock & Roll - February 2009"Two parts R&B, two parts blues, two parts jazz and the rest funky. [...] Warmly entertaining, and if you like your roots music a little offbeat, give 'em a try." UK Rock & Roll - October 2008"Upcoming London outfit The BonTonRoulet are fronted by very glamorous French chanteuse Madame Flo. [...] Her band - bass, drums, trumpet, sax - with Flo singing and playing some harmonica and guitar mix old r&b and rockabilly with a retro-French pop feel. It's very tasty, both originals and covers." Garth Cartwright (www.charliegillett.com). One of the most unique outfits to emerge from the London Rhythm ‘n’ Blues and burlesque scenes, Madam Flo & the BontonRoulet's (a New Orleans’ term for ‘Let The Good Times Rolls’) play an explosive mélange of R’n’B (from when it meant Rhythm’n’Blues), sprinkled with a healthy dose of jazz and rockabilly.THE BIRTH OF THE BONTONROULET Near the muddy waters of Limehouse basin, jump rhythms could be heard from the clock tower of an old sweets factory. Rumours circulated of a chain gang - they weren’t far wrong! Known for wild performances in the barrelhouse tradition, Eddy the Eel's been banging.. er drums for the last thirty years. With a larger body and longer neck Stu Phillips' bass has ensured the tightest rhythm section this side of google earth. Registering highly, Dave Casey's delinquent trumpet riffs added thrills and kicks. The girl couldn't help it, they needed more brass (!) - Marie Danielle became the mouth piece for swingin' tenor sax blues. It was in a decadent East London boudoir that the French connection was cemented. Already a tireless record collector and creator of over 200 jazz compilations and reissues for record companies, Madam Flo's eye, caught sight of leopard skin loving libertines. Her fascination with rock n roll, blues, lounge, exotica, soul and jazz ensures the louche vocals and the silver screen looks. Her harmonica playing ensures that with a stellar line-up they deliver surprise after surprise, from the self-penned 'Between Exile And Paradise', ‘True To Myself’ and 'Watermelon Gin', to covers like the finger-snapping, thought-provoking ‘Opportunity, Please Knock’ (Oscar Brown Jr.), the killer ‘Fujiyama Mama’ (Wanda Jackson), and the funky 'Theme De Yoyo' (Art Ensemble Of Chicago), each bringing a novel slant to the original.Guaranteed to both fuel your feet and feed your mind, their groove is undeniable.MADAM FLO AND THE BONTON ROULETS AT THE CAMDEN BARFLY15th June 2008

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 16/04/2008
Band Members: MADAME FLOVocalist and harmonica player Madame Flo is also the singer and songwriter of acoustic jazz folk project Gypsy Flo’s Medicine Show, as well as a former member of the R’n’B combo Manuela & The MusicMakers. She has performed in venues as diverse as Soho cult nite spot The New Evaristo, the Barbican’s Foyer, the Water Rats and even most recently Otto’s Shrunken Head in New York’s Lower East Side. She has been a tireless record collector for most of her life, and has created over 200 jazz compilations and reissues for record companies. Her fascination with rock’n’roll, blues, lounge, exotica, soul and jazz has, over the last decade, led to DJ spots in various London clubs and bars, and most recently the London Jazz Festival. She likes liquid eyeliner, Little Jimmy Scott, Nina Simone, Charles Mingus, Robert Mitchum, the smell of acetate, boogaloo, and mashed potatoes, in that order. Her favourite colour is leopard skin.EDDIE MANWith 20 years to his name on the East London scene, drummer Eddie Man, a former member of the Limehouse Link, Car Thieves, the Foster Brothers (of which two ended up with the Pretenders and another in Paul McCartney’s Wings), founded the legendary Easy Street Studios in the ‘80s, recording the likes of reggae stars Sugar Minnott, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Carol Thompson, etc. Known by his friends as ‘smash and grab Ed’, He likes ska, R’n’B, reggae and ‘anything good’, eels and mash (which he likes to catch himself, the eels, not the mash). His favourite colours are red and black.DAVE CASEYFew people can say they have interests as varied as trumpeter Dave Casey. A founding member of soul jazz outfit the City Levels, he also joined a number of jazz workshops, before returning to his R’n’B roots in the last couple of years. A talented live music photographer, and former boxer’s agent, Dave is also a keen eel catcher, who has had several articles - including one on Whippets - published in Eel Magazine. He now runs a company that provides art studios. Dave likes Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, jiving, John Lee Hooker, the film ‘On The Waterfront’, boxing films.His favourite colour is yellow.MARIE DANIELLEWhen she's not putting on Pirate Pencil Parties, Marie can be found encouraging women to show their knickers in public (Putting on Time Out previewed Vive Le Can Can and Gore-lesque Workshops) and FestEVILS with pelvic petrifications, monster boutiques and naughtiness G(al)ORE. She has been a promoter's assistant for Brighton's Melting Vinyl, cooking pasta for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Moldy Peaches and Godspeed You Black Emperor, as well as shamelessly championing and broadcasting gabber on Reverb FM. Moving away from the pneumatic drill and bass,Marie rented a saxophone at the insistence of her landlord and played her first gig three days later - it's been 11 months now. Self taught, she's giving it a really sweet stab and has just fallen in love with the low B! Recent fresh meat with the London Rockin Roller derby grrls, her favourite colour is newly bruised.STU PHILLIPSStu Phillips, the bass player from hell to hellazapoppin! From free forming jazz to hardcore metal, Stu's versaitilty has seen him play with The Coasters, The Yes Men, Project Mayhem, The Sleeping Dogs, The Link,The Blues Revue,Pandamonium Blue, Murphy's Maybelline and so many others that he'd get carpel syndrome if he wrote them all down here. From rockabilly, to his current favourite sillybilly (when asked by a well known r&bstar if he could play upright bass, he said he'd played standing up!), Stu Phillip's is instrinisic in getting the good times rolling with his distinctive bass lines. Possibly the only bass player to turn town a Marillion audition to honour his shift at a well known fetish club(!), he has now worringly turned his hand to professional piercing, Stuart's favourite colour therefore, is the colour of pain, and noir!
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

REVIEW IN UK ROCK FEB 09 ISSUE - MADAM FLO & THE BONTONROULET

Please see live review below by Brian 'Bunter' Clark from UK Rock's February issue.  Much obliged, Mr Bunter. :) Here's a quote from Bunter's London Beat piece, below is the full article:An outfit wh...
Posted by on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:25:00 GMT

THE BONTONROULET IN UK ROCK MAGAZINE!

Many thanks to the nice people at UK Rock magazine.  Here are quotes from Brian 'Bunter' Clark's London Beat section: "Madam Flo (her stage name) sings and plays harmonica and rhythm guitar, and ...
Posted by on Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:44:00 GMT