Elmore D
Back To Hesta
As the Walloon alter ego of BenoIt Blue Boy, the French-speaking bluesman who pays tribute to the musical legacy of the southern United States - blues, Cajun, and music from the Delta - Elmore D borrows from the greatest American bluesmen, drawing on their strength and authenticity. Elmore is a linguist and an academic specializing in dialects, and he transposes English, the natural American language-matrix of the blues, into his own Walloon dialect: he's also one of the last authors to use it in his writing. Through personal memories he evokes Herstal, his birthplace, and provides humorous, tender testimony to the working-class traditions of the Walloons. Situated at the confines of blues and so-called World Music, this album has a special cultural legitimacy: it is a rare witness to the rich, multiple aspects of French-language culture. Patrick FREMEAUX