"A pinch of mathematical draughtsmanship, a hint of pop jazz, and a dash of Estardian sound engineering," thus read the ingredients to La Formule du Baron. To a certain degree it could be regarded as the French equivalent to the recipe for Memphis Soul Stew. The formula in question directly proceeds from Bernard Estardy's unique blend of French rhythm & blues and Southern soul (aka the first phase of Nino Ferrer's career as immortalized by the floor-filling likes of Mirza, Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon, and Le Téléfon). The liner notes to this album would have you believe otherwise, but Estardy is not a real baron by any means, although as a sound engineer he worked for French rock royalty including Johnny Hallyday and Françoise Hardy. A French pioneer in the field of synthesizing real instruments, Estardy also experimented heavily with overdubbing and phasing in the CBE studio he co-owned with Georges Chatelain. While working with Nancy Sinatra, one Lee Hazlewood even talked him into going over to L.A. to fetch a multi-track Mellotron. Estardy was instrumental in setting up the French cult library music labels. Apart from the spontaneous sessions for the Telemusic label in which he took part, 1969's La Formule du Baron remains his sole album release. Considering it was mostly recorded during lunch breaks and purely for the sake of fun, it's remarkably well arranged. The album's diversity is dazzling, with the first half working quite well (especially the opening Monsieur Dutour and La Gigouille). The second half appears slightly tedious at times (especially when Estardy starts crooning or scatting away) or downright weird (electronically replicated dogs barking and cats meowing on Meut's Boogie). Too bad Estardy never got around to doing a soundtrack, as he probably would have been capable of creating something on par with Jean-Claude Vannier's genius L'Enfant Assasin des Mouches. With plenty of breaks afoot, cratediggers will have themselves a field day with La Formule du Baron. The closing Sister Charlotte Abbaye visits territory familiar to fans of early Ferrer and it's a missed opportunity that the Dare-Dare label neglected to include the historically relevant and highly sought-after Les Gottamou EPs (Gamma Goochee and Dansez le Monkiss) as a bonus. The inclusion of material of this side project with Ferrer would have made this obscure CD release a truly indispensable one. ~ Quint Kik, Rovi

1		Monsieur Dutour
2		Cha tatch ka
3		Ala mia thra
4		Autoscopie
5		La gigouille
6		Le pain, le vin
7		La valse du vépar
8		Les lahoutes
9		Meut's Boogie
10		De temps en temps
11		Bave à roi
12		Sister Charlotte Abbaye

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