Chalibaude

Chalibaude were a French folk quartet of the mid-1970s. The band comprised half of the eight-piece Francis Guillon et Son Orchestre on the 1975 one-off Spécial Danse 8.

Members: Christian Bonneault (Guitars, Bass, Crumhorn, Banjo, Vocals), Georges Felletin (Violin, Organ), Jean Chevalier (Drums, Percussion, Flute), Michel Lefort (Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Dulcimer, Flute, Vocals)

Drummer/percussionist Jean Chevalier had been the most active on the local music scene, having played on the homonymous 1974 album by composer/organist Laurence Vanay as well as two mid-’70s longplayers by theatrical French vocalist Alain Kan.

Signing to the nascent Cezame label, Chalibaude released its sole album, Les Noces du Papillon, in 1976. Evoking the contents therein, the album’s cover depicts grainy barnyard slumbers under yellowish sunlight.

Four tracks in, the mid-tempo “La Messe a Poitiers” establishes a diatonic, descending chordal strum rooted in A-minor, which propels the vocals along high thirds and fifths.

An A-minor tonality also encapsulates the instrumental “La-las Dans ces Prairies” on which a slow influx of acoustic guitar, dulcimer, and ultimately crumhorn are spread over an operative bassline.

A bass-drum/triangle figure guides the stately up-tempo “La Fille du Rochelais,” where persistent plucking and Felletin’s intermittent bowing fill the song’s two-chord structure rooted in D-minor. 

“L’noulette et le Marlot” starts out as a lyrical piece set to a slow, D-minor strum-along of rising/falling fifths. Halfway through, the cadence tightens as violin and twangy leads descend on the now-martialized proceedings.

On a more outre note, the brief mono-chordal drone “Le Retour dau Quaret” tests the sonic character of the crumhorn under layers of studio effects.

After Chalibaude split, Chevalier remained active on the French scene, appearing on albums by René Werneer, Jacques-Emile Deschamps, and Manu Lann Huel, among others. During the late 1980s, he cut a pair of jazz-rock albums with guitarist Jean-Luc Chevalier and bassist Marc Elliard.