Bred on jazz at home, and on the music of the Paris streets,the Gypsy art of Django Reinhardt, bal musette, and North African rai, singer, songwriter, blues harmonica player Florence Joelle started collecting rock’n’roll, doo-wop, Latin jazz, and early blues as a girl. Her music draws from all these influences, carving out a unique sound that, although deeply rooted in the past, vibrates in the present.
A twee retro singer she is not, though. Ever socially conscious, her songs depict what happens around her.
The gritty ’29 Bus Blues’ tells of an assault witnessed on a London night bus, while ‘The God Of Things’,written during the riots of August 2011, warns of the materialistic world we live in. ‘How Many Chickens Are You Missing Today?’, a protest song composed on behalf of the thousands of Roma brutally and illegally expelled from France in 2010, was recently included on an compilation by Amnesty International.
Released in 2011, her first album, Kiss Of Fire, was described by the Arts Desk as ‘Smokin’, while Michael Dregni (author of the Django Reinhardt biographies) said in Vintage Guitar Magazine that she sings “rock ’n’ roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude.”
While paying homage to the past, Florence Joelle has carved out a unique sound that vibrates in the present.
“Imagine a jazz panther ate a chanson raccoon and then ran away to join the rockabilly circus.” What’s Cookin’
“Left Bank cool, rock’n’roll and Gypsy jazz for a sound that is both sultry and fiesty.” Fatea Magazine
” Florence Joelle sings rock ’n’ roll like Billie Holiday might, croons a torch ballad as Wanda Jackson may, and spices it all with a bit of Patti Smith attitude.” Vintage Guitar Magazine
” Paris-born, Camden-based, her music has a heady, jazzy swing of the hips, the sultry tango of ‘I’ll Come Running’ the perfect soundtrack to any Martini-fuelled, Mad Men-themed party.” Q Magazine
“It’s her voice that smacks you around the head. It’s utterly unique. “ Ruth Barnes’ Pick Of The Week, Tom Robinson’s Show, BBC 6 Music
“Gloriously retro, incorporating elements of vintage rock’n’roll, jazz, French chanson, and rhythm and blues as it used to be”. R2 RocknReel
“Super fine and sassy singer fusing a Tarrantino-esque sense of cool with a vocal style that imbibes both Peggy Lee and Edith Piaf with touches of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.” Time Out