(Review: Amanda Rodgers, Club Promoter)
www.strangerthanparadise.net, www.myspace.com/gypsymadness)
Ta Mere exploded off the radar at Stranger Than Paradise on October 6th, 07 with their unique renditions of old style vaudeville gypsy romany and swing from the early 20th century, captivatingly cool , sleek and sexy, this string trio care well equipped to play sophisticated tea parties to dusty dance halls and transform you into another world... stranger than paradise.

(Review: The World Observer)
“Ta Mère - 3 guys-about-town, on the town, getting down and swinging hard. A creation by special request of the BBC for the 2007 Glasgow Film Festival, they’ve catapulted from these auspicious beginnings directly onto the London scene. Embrace the sultry evening, suffused with the hint of yesteryear and awash with a fresh undercurrent crackling and sparkling away. Champagne flutes fully charged, and the ice cubes clinking happily in their tumblers, dance those troubles away to the latest sensation. Spanning all from the slow grind, through jump jive and touching on the jazzy boogie and eclectic points in between, allow Ta Mère to escort you away from the mundane and sweep you up into a state of bubbling hilarity and joy as the joint gets jumpin'. Laissez les beaux temps rouler...”

SEAN MacGLOIN
(Vocals, Violin, Harmonica, Bagpipes - Bronx New York)

Born and raised in the Bronx, Sean MacGloin is a first generation Irish American fiddler and Highland bagpiper. Sean began playing the bagpipes at the ripe age of 4 under the tutelage of his father, an Irish music composer. He took up classical violin at age 7 and expanded into different genres of music including blugrass, swing, jazz, rock and folk, taking a particular interest in Irish traditional music and Latino music drawing from his Cuban heritage. He has competed on bagpipes with the Royal Scots Guards Association Pipe Band for four seasons and presently competes with Luton University Pipe Band, England’s premier pipe band. Sean, now based in London, is very involved with the UK music scene where he has played and recorded with the chart-topping pop group Madness, Nashville recording artist Bap Kennedy and Rockabilly legend Boz Boorer. He has worked with Morrissey on his previous album and toured internationally with Alabama 3 and Gaz Mayall's celtic ska band the Trojans.

BENOIT VIELLEFON
(Vocals, Guitar - Paris France)

Born in France, Benoit started to play music whilst in his teens. Adept on various forms of guitar, electric bass and drums, music has inevitably forged the way for this youthful and energetic musician. The muse has followed Benoit throughout Europe, the Americas and Africa, where he has joined all manner of projects ranging from african/arabic music, French ball musette, gypsy swing, rock n’ roll to ska and the burlesque. Lately, Benoit has taken up a management and musical position with Gaz Mayall's Trojans Celtic Ska project, the Skamonics and other endeavours. Recent collaborations with the BBC and Channel 4 in the way of film festivals and film soundtracks have added further feathers to his beret. As Chief Executive Officer of “quality first” JohnJohn record label, Benoit employs his natural charm and extensive connections, to ensure that any project he comes in contact with has the assurance of professionalism and quality. His original compositions and arrangements are legion, and fast becoming legendary!

VIKTOR OBSUST
(Double Bass, Backing Vocals - Bratislava Slovak Republik)

While in Slovakia, Viktor played in the State Chamber Opera of the Slovak National Theatre (Bratislava) and was the principal bass in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. He worked in Czech Republic in Alternative Theatre Ha-Divadlo in Brno and played jazz standards in countless restaurants and clubs in and around Prague. Viktor was Head of the Double Bass Course at the Oxford `Cello and `Bass School in 1999, and coached double bass at the Wycombe Music Summer School for the third time in summer 2002. The self produced first international jazz workshop in his native Novi Sad has paved the way for hosting jazz courses and workshops on the global scene. Viktor has a jazz function group in the UK, but is also active as a classical soloist and chamber musician playing from baroque to contemporary music including improvisation. Of late, Viktor has been actively engaged in jazz, improvisation and world music scene. Viktor has performed in this country at Dartington, Glastonbury, Big Green Gathering, Brighton Komedia, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall etc.