Moïse and Alida Viator with EH, LA-BAS!

CREOLE FUSION

Like the Louisiana musicians of years gone by, we have cooked up a spicy gumbo of diverse musical influences: to the roux of traditional instruments (violins, horns, guitars), we have added Jazz melodies, Caribbean rhythms, and wild vocals sung in the poetic New Orleans Creole language.

The Times of Acadiana, August 2006

The Viator siblings just keep getting better, no doubt in part because they don't crank out their poly-cultural celebrations assembly-line style but wait until they have enough ideas for a good album. No longer the precocious teens who debuted seven years ago with Mo Belle Creole, they still sing, play, and choose songs with youthful exuberance, making their exploration of "world music" (really, is there any other kind?) seem fun instead of morally noble. Sonny Landreth guests on two tracks, but whether they're covering songs from Prairie Mamou and Colombia or New Orleans and Spanish Harlem, the Viators and their band are the stars (especially Alida, who plays her violin like a gypsy possessed and sings like someone who loves to). Really, it's the rare combo, locally bred or otherwise, that can make Argentinean bullfight music sound like Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (El Matador), improve Ain't Got No Home with swinging horns and Ventures guitar, or recast My Boy Lollipop, A Teenager in Love, and I Like It like That as the ideal soundtrack for busting pinatas. Verdict: The best party album of the year by a longshot.

Arsenio Orteza

OffBeat Magazine, July 2006

"....a mind boggling, globe trotting excursion. Who would ever imagine Ernie K-Doe's "A Certain Girl" mixed with Brazilian voodoo beats or the time-honored Cajun "Mardi Gras" transformed into a Colombian cumbia with a Middle Eastern bent? The crafty arrangements are not only imaginative and unpredictable but incorporate a heavy Latin and Jamaican ska influence. The intro to "Grog Mwen" isn't that far off from a '40s Cuban orchestra swelling with boisterously piercing horns and Alida's seriating violin lines. Another surprise is Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "Ain't Got No Home." In the midst of twisty, topsy-turvy ska horns, Moïse launches an ultra-cool, surf-styled "Apache" riff. These tunes were stage show-tested way before they were etched to permanent medium but now -- with crystal clear mastering -- they're perfect for the airwaves."

Dan Willging

"Where Y'at" Magazine, July 2006

"Moïse and Alida Viator and EH, LA-BAS! are a throwback to native Louisiana musicians of the past. The band's latest album, Creole Fusion, exponentially expands their Acadian and American roots. For the first track, "A Certain Girl," fellow Louisianian and slide guitar master Sonny Landreth sits in as Moïse pines about a girl that drives him crazy with uniquely Cajun emotion. Highlighting the French patois of the West Indies, "Don Mwen En Ti Bo" combines a French Antilles zouk and a New Orleans Dixieland feel. Creole Fusion succeeds in blending several music stylings."

John Alfone

Hurricane Katrina had several effects on Louisiana: it stole more of our coastal wetlands, destroyed many of our homes and levees, and it forced some of our musicians to move to higher (and drier) ground. EH, LA-BAS!, like so many other forms of unique New Orleans culture, has become a temporary casualty of Katrina. Before the levees broke, however, we managed to rescue the final mixes of our newest CD.

We call it CREOLE FUSION.

Hear clips from Moïse and Alida's latest CD:

CREOLE FUSION

Or, download it now at

iTunes.

We miss the thrill of playing live for all of you, but because we want our fans to continue to experience the sounds of EH, LA-BAS!, and because we refuse to let Katrina have the last word, we offer you CREOLE FUSION.

We hope that you'll stay tuned to this web site for new reviews and updates on when and where we'll be playing again. Like New Orleans, EH, LA-BAS! will return. Until then, the Creolization that we began will continue through our recorded voices. We invite you to share in our musical reunion.

Yours truly,

Moïse and Alida