Shakespeare & the Blues is a fusion trio based in New Orleans who’ll be releasing their debut album e.g.,Rhapsodic on Nouveau Electric Records, the label run by Louis Michot of Grammy winners Lost Bayou Ramblers. Making experimental music drawing on Jazz and Hip Hop influences, the trio features Cam Smith on drums and electronics, Cassie Watson Francillon on concert harp, and Bryan Webre (Lost Bayou Ramblers and Michot’s Melody Makers) on bass and electronics. The album was recorded at Mark Bingham’s Nina Hwy Studio in Henderson, LA, engineered and mixed by Smith and Webre; self-produced by the trio. The album is being released September 17th on vinyl LP, CD and cassette, as well as digital download and via streaming platforms.
Cam and Bryan started playing out together locally as Shakespeare & the Blues in 2019 performing free-flowing sets that never repeated ideas utilizing drums, bass, loops, samples, guitar and synths.
One day Watson Francillon recruited Smith to participate in a harp-percussion duet she’d been commissioned to perform at New Orleans’ Cathedral of Peter and Paul. He in turn invited her to a Shakespeare & the Blues set at Banks Street Bar and eventually to sit in with them, which led to her joining the group. The trio immediately felt so locked in, they decided to go straight into Nina Hwy Studio to document their undeniable chemistry. They cut what’d end up as e.g., Rhapsodic from this session.
Today Glide is excited to premiere e.g.,Rhapsodic in its entirety. The songs on the album are uninhibited explorations of genre blending, tied together by futurist grooves and virtuosic syncopating. They are composed around a startling selection of samples and soundbytes enmeshed in the trio’s visionary instrumental experimentation. The result is layered and intensely atmospheric sonic textures and soundscapes that pull you in. Sure, there are elements of funk and classic music, not to mention jazz, but the way it all comes together is forms a sound that stands on its own and showcases the musical chemistry between these three talented artists. We also get moody, tripped out beats that bring to mind trip hop and chilled out electronic music. All of these factors make the album a compelling listen, whether you are soaking it in through headphones or letting it hang in the background after you just smoked a joint.
LISTEN:
Photo credit: Connor Reever
