Pelao

There's something oddly familiar about the cover of this album – it's the sort of out-there artwork that only Belgian's Crammed Discs could produce. Pictured are an unkempt collection of globetrotters from Colombia, France and Belgium (both Flemish and Walloon). The concept and the imagery are, in fact, very similar to another Crammed-signed group: globetrotting musical vagabonds Think of One and their breakthrough Tráfico album. La Chiva Gantiva – who sing in both Spanish and French – blend jazz, funk and a whole host of Latin American rhythms such as champeta, mapalé and chirimia. This is music built with clarinet, saxophone and bass guitar, which would no doubt sound great at a British festival such as Larmer Tree, with a glass of Pimm's in hand, in the late afternoon sun. The disc opens with the pulsing, almost slow-mo cumbia ‘Por Eso Canto’ (This is Why I Sing); then there's ‘Pa ke Gozen?’, a weird and wonderful mix of shrill wood instruments that sounds Celtic, mixed with a funky guitar riff that feels like it's been lifted out of an Afro-beat number; and the sleepwalking, spaced out instrumental ‘Pink Flamingo’.

For this reviewer, La Chiva Gantiva err a bit too much towards the jazz side of things. Some songs could do with having a little sharper teeth instead of starting strongly and petering out into almost freestyle jazz experimentation. And fun as the Spanish songs are, somehow French (or a mixture of both languages) seems to work best, such as on the title-track, ‘Pelao’. A fun idea, certainly, from a talented bunch of musicians.