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LP Batti Mamzelle 'I See The Light'
 Lament
- J. Chambers
San Juan
- C. Charman/J. Chambers
Caroni
- J. Telfer/R. Richardson
Seasoning M. Barradas/W. Delandro
Voodoo
Man - R. Richardson
Get Out Of My
Way
- R. Richardson
Love Is Blind
- R. Richardson/J. Chambers
Bird - R. Richardson/J. Chambers
I See
The Light - R. Richardson/J. Chambers
LP 1974
This Album has been a long
time coming. Seems like Batti Mamzelle have spent the best part of a year in
various recording studios
trying, perhaps too desperately sometimes, to
capture on vinyl the essence of their live music.
It’s been a struggle. The band
originally started on this album way back in
June 1973, but always there seemed to be one basic problem. That fusion of
raw
excitement and musical expertise, which works to well for the band on
stage, never quite made the right connection.
Well, a few months back, Batti finally picked up on Robert Bailey as
producer. Bailey, of course, was formerly the Keyboards player
with Osibis.
His kid brother, Richard, is Batti’s drummer and their father. McDonald, is
the band’s manager. A family affair. This album
is the result. Enjoy it.
The idea behind Batti Mamzelle has been floating around for some time now,
even before Richard Bailey joined up with Johnny Nash’s
backing band, The
Sons Of The Jungle, in 1972.
Richard, you see, is
from Trinidad. His idea, quite simply, was to form a rock band incorporating
Trinidadian steel pans. It all began to
take shape during the early part of
1973 when he finally assembled the pan section – Miguel Baradas, Ralph
Richardson and Russell
Valdez – and discovered the whole concept knitted
together just fine.
All the band are from Trinidad and the name Batti Mamzelle is French patois
for “crazy lady”, the local term for a dragonfly.
The focal
point of the
band is, obviously, the pan section. All three of the pan players came to
Britain in the early Sixties as members of
Dixieland which was, despite the
name, Trinidad’s premiere steel band.
They stayed on in
Britain, eventually forming a spinoff band
called Les Flambeaux. Miguel was
the leader of the band in those days, but he finally split some three years
ago to do session work.
And then, of course, came Batti. Richard, together
with lead guitarist Winston Delandro and bass player Peter Duprey started
out in
some band called Ojah who were so rumour suggests, quite hot in
Europe. Then Richard and Winston found themselves touring
America as Sons Of
The Jungle.
Vocalist Jimmy Chambers, meanwhile, was with Dada for a time. When the band
finally became Vinegar Joe. Jimmy tried to make it as
a solo singer before
he was offered the gig with Batti. I first heard the band one May afternoon
in a small rehearsal room off
London’s Charing Cross Road. They’d been
together for just about two months but, even at that time, they sounded
formidable.
They had one of the tightest rhythm sections I’d heard. Still do, in fact.
And Richard, today has got to be THE best young drummer
in Britain. No
messing.
That rhythm section made a
superb job of underpinning the pans, with Frank Ince’s conga work filling
out the
overall sound. Pretty weird it was, too. The pans had both rhythmic
and melodic capabilities, colouring the band’s music. They gave
a whole new
depth and range, opening up different possibilities.
All that was a year ago. Since
then Batti have been through something of a frustrating time. But they’ve
been on the road, played a
couple of weeks residency at London’s Howff Club
and, well, they’ve finally recorded this album.
The highlights, for me
at least, are
“Love is Blind”, “Bird” and the atypical “Voodoo Man”.You
might find others. It’s a good first album, one which ably demonstrates the
band’s potential.
Be the first on your block to
pick up on Batti Mamzelle.....
Rob Partridge, Melody Maker
Peter Duprey
– Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Winston Delandro
– Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Electric Piano, Spanish Guitar
Richard Bailey
– Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion, Timbales
Miguel Barradas
– High Tenor Pan, Backing Vocals, Percussion, Timbales and other Pans
Ralph Richardson
– Tenor Pan, Backing Vocals and other Pans
Russell Valdez
– Double Tenor Pans, Backing Vocals
Frank Ince
– Congas, Backing Vocals
Jimmy Chambers
– Lead Vocals
 All music arranged by Batti Mamzelle
Special thanks to Robert Bailey who had a jam on Mellotron
Produced by Robert Bailey for Straight Ahead Productions
Recorded at Essex Music Studio, London,
1974
Engineer: John Rollo
Front cover illustration by Peter Goodfellow
Backcover photo by Brian Cooke/Visualeyes Ltd
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Award-Winning Film 'A Bigger Splash'
In April 2006 they re-released the movie A Bigger Splash on DVD.
The original year of this film is 1975 but
unreleased until a decade later.
The Artist
David Hockney
is well on his way to art world super-stardom. Filmmaker Jack Hazan,
camera rolling, follows Hockney from London to New York to Los Angeles -
capturing the artist as he struggles to create what would prove to be
some of his most enduring works: those featuring Hockney's model and
lover, Peter Schlesinger. Straddling the boundary between documentary
and fiction, A Bigger Splash tells the story of Hockney's breakup with
Schlesinger and its effect on Hockney, his work, and his close circle of
friends. Originally banned for a notorious scene of homosexual intimacy,
this award-winning film, "at once precise and dreamlike," is a unique
document of a time and place, a lifestyle, and the artistic process,
unlike anything made before or since.
All used soundtracks written by Ralph Richardon.
Music recorded 1974 at
Essex Music on Poland Street, London.
Royalties collected by PRS The Performing Right Society.
DVD at firstrunfeatures.com
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