L'amour fou

Lydia Persaud impressed me with The O'Pears and Dwayne Gretzky. So on Saturday, I went to the Burdock to hear her solo material. Opening for Persaud was a Montreal band, Jabbour, making their Toronto debut. This trio of older, very accomplished musicians played a blue-grass, folkie, toe-tapping set in both English and French. But except for 20 Bucks, I found their French songs like Son secret and Belle note more enjoyable. They were wittier with clever lyrics and rhyme.

Persaud has recruited some old friends (from her university days) and new (guitarist James Robertson from Dwayne Gretzky) for her band. Her powerful vocals, and nice ukulele playing, ranged over a wide number of genre from R&B to country. She mentioned that in Dwayne, she and Robertson play different roles for different songs, but tonight they get to be their true selves. That may be so in real-life, but I feel that from a brand perspective for a new artist, there may be too much eclecticism to get audience traction. But an EP is not even out yet, so we'll have to see.