Chez Vous [KLP066]

Viva la Baker and radical Divas everywhere. Chez Vous is a compilation drawn from The Cha Cha Cabaret - a show, darling, a traveling Hootenanny and Chataqua, rolled into one. It toured the west coast for a few seasons, organized and hosted by the inimitable Miss Lady Hand Grenade, and then documented itself on this disc. Featured are acts and objects extravagant but familiar, made with those things closest at hand, all recorded by Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic Studio. Chez Vous includes the first recordings on by the artists Mirah (Cocozelle), Old Time Relijun, Sarah Dougher, Miranda July and Nikki McClure. Drawing heavily on the imagery of Josephine Baker and the attitudes of Nina Simone, starring lady glitterati and tap dancing dandies these restless marauders are the original troubadours, charting the terrain in their flights of fancy. Included on this bountiful collection are the work of Simplement Jacques (aka Dale Shaw of Blood Sausage and the Lies), the Skirts, Old Time Reliju