Ta Mère - Press




		Shakespeare writes of the bagpipes in the Merchant of Venice: “And others, when the bagpipe sings i' the nose, cannot contain their urine.” Like many of us the Bard did not hold the sound of the bagpipes in great affection, but then he had never heard Ta Mere. This old-style four-piece jazz-band-with-a-twist use an array of instruments including violin, guitar, bass, harmonica and drums. But it is their use of the bagpipes that set this band apart. In the arms of Ta Mere’s charismatic front man, Sean MacGloin, this much maligned instrument produces a sound that is upbeat and sonorous and not in the least bit urine-inducing.

The combination of jazz and bagpipes is a rare one. It was pioneered by the American musician Rufus Harley who, according to legend, got the idea whilst watching the pipe band of the Black Watch playing at President Kennedy's funeral. Although bagpipes have also been used intermittently by various musicians from Van Morrison to Peter Gabriel their popularity is limited due to their lack of subtly. Not only do bagpipes only have nine notes but the sound they emit is difficult to modulate and coming out at one volume: loud. But MacGloin skips around these problems using false fingering to find half-notes and varying the volume by swaying back and forth in front of his trademark vintage microphone. Their rendition of Summertime with MacGloin also singing in his throaty Satchmo voice injects this jazz standard with a blithe originality. The band also write their own material and their song Little Boy Blue starts with a scintillating bagpipe intro which flows into a catchy classic jazz number.

New Yorker MacGloin has been playing the pipes since the age of 4. “As a child the pipes were beaten into me and my brothers” he jokes. “Every weekend we’d be forced to play the pipes then forced to go to bible study then forced to listen to Elgar.” Growing up in an eccentric musical household in the Bronx to an Irish father and Cuban mother MacGloin's life has been anything but conventional. He came to England to study and after leaving Cambridge with a degree in law he decided to spend the next two years busking with his bagpipes. Stripped to his kilt and painted blue he became a familiar site in the tourist spots of London but eventually he got bored with busking and returned to New York to sit his state bar exams.

Sent back to London to open a branch of a US law firm MacGloin decided to set-up his own legal consultancy in order to give himself the flexibility to play his music. Over the years he has played with Alabama 3, Morrisey and even performed in Wembley stadium with Madness (thanks in part to fact that his cousin is Chas Smash). Ta Mere (meaning “Your Mama”) was set up in 2008 and comprises an accomplished group of musicians including Wun Yen Chan on the bass, John McCarthy on drums and the talented jazz guitarist, Christos Chatzispyrou.

But it is MacGloin's charisma, energy and musicianship that dazzle. His personality is capable of filling a venue of any size. As well as intimate venues such as the elegant Last Days of Decadence, Ta Mere go down a storm at bigger events and are booked to play several festivals this summer. Rounding off their high energy set the band finish with a rendition of Hi Di Hi Di Ho. “Ho Di Ho Di Ho Di Ho” the appreciative crowd replied with one voice. Shakespeare would have pissed his doublet and hose.

Stefan Simanowitz




		Did you know ‘Jazz’ comes from the word orgasm?” Benoit Viellefon, one quarter of live music’s most avant-garde band, has made me blush already. I’m sitting with the Frenchman and his fellow frontman, Sean MacGloin, who has ordered a whisky on the rocks in my office building’s cafeteria at three in the afternoon – he’s a New Yorker from the Bronx, after all. Wun Chan Yen on the bass and John McCarthy on the drums, not present, complete the fourman band that is Ta Mère (French for “your mother”).

Much like fashion does, Ta Mère is looking back in time, bringing a 1920s Louis Armstrong energy to our generation. Swing, jazz, folk, blues – these guys are going against the establishment and getting back to the basics of good music. The kind of music that we all tap our feet to and grab a dance partner for. “People go mad for it, even if they’re posh,” says Sean, who, quite endearingly, confesses that “this is the band I’ve been looking for all my life.” The band resembles a sort of swingers’ “rat pack”. Their style is 100 per cent tailored – head to toe classic suits, with hats designed by Sean’s personal friend Philip Treacy – with an unmistakable swagger that is lacking in most modern acts of the industry.

So how does a live touring band stay alive in this climate? “Great music has always been played during hard times. During a recession, music is the one thing that uplifts people and reminds them of the good times.” In fact, live gigs are precisely what is paying the bills at the moment for Ta Mère. With residencies in both corners of London – Ginglik in the west (catch them on the 31 October, ginglik.co.uk) and the Brickhouse on Brick Lane in the east – Ta Mère’s following is growing fast. “It’s coming back in style to bring your girl to a jazz café and order cognac,” says Sean, formerly

a music lawyer for the mainstream record companies, many of which are wondering what to do with themselves in the current digital music market.

" Swing, jazz, folk, blues– These guys are going against the establishment and getting back to basics of good music"

“We’re shooting bullets in the right place and hitting the right target,” says feisty Frenchman Benoit. Ta Mère has its own record label, run by Benoit since 1999. With JohnJohnRecords behind them, the group has full artistic control and can do exactly what they like – “hijacking jazz”. Benoit plans to have an album available on iTunes by November of next year. But you can tell that going digital is not priority for the live band. Linking music with technology almost feels unnatural when speaking with the musicians of Ta Mère. I fail to believe that listening to them on your iPod would have the same effect as witnessing the irresistible thumping of a live bass and the excitement an entire audience jiving. “We play popular music,” Benoit says confidently and casually.” There is no argument here. Ta Mère is nostalgic, revolutionary, romantic, certainly swinging and making a considerable amount of noise.


	Catch Ta Mère at The Brickhouse and Ginglik. See myspace.com for more details




	Fronted by firey singing Frenchman Benoit Viellefon and American/Cuban violinist Sean MacGloin, the innovative group stole the show as Matchbox party-goers grooved to the sound of gypsy swing, French Bal Musette, Russian and Balkan traditionals, Cuban, Tango, Blues and Jazz. "We're using a popular and traditional recipe that works. This is not music that goes out of fashion, this is music that has people are responding naturally to it every time," said Benoit casually as he came off the stage from his electric performance. The audience was transported to another era of music powered by legends such as Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf and George Gershwin.

The cooler-than-cool gang charmed the matchbox crowd in their swingers attire, certainly winning the award for the party's best-dressed males, each decked out like Gene Kelly. As music trends are reaching back further in time for inspiration, this one-of-a-kind act is set on stealing the spotlight from the industry's big players. Judging by their infectious live performance, Ta Mère has nowhere to go but up. Catch the kings of cool at local hot spot Ginglik in Sheperd's Bush on 24 October and 28 November. They are also headlining at the Bohemia Festival at the beautiful Eridge Estate near Royal Tunbridge Wells on 16th August.