Lo Jai

Lo Jai was formed in Lyon, France in 1980, when three associates from the traditionalist music group, Le Grand Rouge, joined up with a fellow-musician to explore regional Limousin music. The associates of Lo Jai are extremely talented music artists; Guy Bertrand performs flute, whistle, three-holed tube, hurdy gurdy, alto sax, and string tabor; Carlo Rizzo has body drums and whistle; Eric Montel, the bagpipes, clarinet, and whistle; and Philippe Eidel, the synthesizer. All sing in the Limousin local design, which recalls Arabic performing, and which acts as a reminder that French lifestyle is much less a monolithic entity, and even more a plurality of local cultures, noises, and dialects. Lo Jai aren’t traditionalists; instead of protecting the Limousin audio within a dessicated feeling of reverence, they make an effort to maintain it alive and powerful by mixing equipment. In their initial 10 years, they released two quite distinctive albums, the to begin that was acoustically-orented, the next more keyboard-based.