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Les Yeux Noirs, Live
(World Village)
2003 Time Out New York review

by Marion Lignana Rosenberg

Led by fiddling siblings Eric and Olivier Slabiak, Paris-based octet Les Yeux Noirs have been dubbed “the boy band of a lost era.” Fusing klezmer and Roma (Gypsy) tunes with Django Reinhardt’s manouche jazz, their music evokes lost time and places: the motley, chaotic baggage of exile common to Jews and Roma, and the wispy fragrance of locales that endure only in dreams (or nightmares).

The follow-up to 2002’s studio effort Balamouk, this live recording offers a generous sampling of Les Yeux Noirs’ souped-up, expressionistic take on its lush musical heritage, which is drawn from the cultures of India, Spain, North Africa and Central Asia, among others. The Slabiaks’ suave, multilingual vocals grace a number of classics, including a slinky, dangerously oedipal reading of “Yiddishe Mame” and the disarmingly tender lullaby “Rozinkhes,” which has the faintest hint of menace weaving its way through the filigreed cello, accordion and guitar accompaniment.

The group’s virtuosity comes to the fore in such shimmying, swirling dance numbers as “Cioara,” with splashes of tingling cimbalom, aggressive percussion and guitar that seemingly dares listeners to try and sit still. The energy remains high on the giddily nihilistic “Joc de Loop,” in which violin strings are joyously shredded into nothingness, and “L’Alouette,” which seems to career off into octaves that only dogs can hear. Translations for the French and Yiddish lyrics are not provided, but no matter: Get on your feet and join in the bittersweet, polyglot fun.

Les Yeux Noirs play Joe’s Pub Mon 8.

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