Don Cavalli-
De Profundus
Don Cavalli is a French singer songwriter that has enjoyed a long musical career and recently has garnered critical and mainstream success in the UK and Europe.
Cavalli’s two previous albums, Cryland in 2007 and Temperamental in 2013, contain some of the best electric blues/funk that you’ll ever be lucky to hear. Cavalli is famous for his humorous, yet intelligent lyrics, helping those two albums rank high in my murky quirky music world.
This “new” album, I say new, but it was originally recorded in 2003, has been expertly remastered and released as a new album.
Cavalli was primarily known for his rockabilly sound at that time, but was looking to reinvent his sound. So he decided to home record himself solo with voice and acoustic guitar. The result is De Profundis. Translated to mean The Deep, or Deeply, that is exactly what he accomplished, some mean deep blues.
Recorded direct to cassette resulted in a sound comparable to the early American blues of the 1920’s and 1930’s. The muffled, over and under modulated noise that was produced creates an authentic sound to the 10 songs presented here.
“Argument And Alibis” begins the deep blues excursion and the sound will immediately draw you in.
“Been Gone A Long Time” with its Robert Johnsonesque guitar lick is an up tempo number that will get you moving in ways that should embarrass you.
“Barceto Stomp”, is an instrumental that sounds like that song you played so much that the cassette tape wore out and had more dropouts than 1960’s San Fancisco Universities. Cavalli shines on guitar on this one.
“Carmela” follows and highlights Cavalli’s unique vocal style, he wails and howls like Robert Johnson on steroids.
I am huge fan of the fingerpicking country blues style in the likes of Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. This style is well represented in the song “I Don’t Feel Welcome Here”. One of the best of the bunch Cavalli fingerpicks that guitar into submission.
Cavalli saves the best for last. “I won’t Be Coming No More” is such an incredible tribute to the genuine country pioneers. He conjures up some musical ghosts of Hank Williams and Hank Snow that for this reviewer takes me back to my childhood where these sounds echoed in our home. My late father was a huge musical influence on me and he enjoyed some cool greats. I remember the familiar sounds of such greats as Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Hank Snow, and his and my favourite, the one and only Blue Yodeler Jimmie Rodgers (Of whom my dad emulated in his own yodeling skills), pouring out my dad’s “Sound room’.
Cavalli is dead on, and definitely makes ‘I Won’t Be Coming No More” a song I will treasure for a long time.
Don Cavalli will never become a household name this side of the Atlantic, but he is one of those artists that one should seek out, you’ll be happy you did.
De Profundis is a definite 10 out 10, and if you love traditional acoustic blues as much as I, this one’s for you.
