Louvat Bros. - Between the Heart and Reasons (2019)

For years, this Belgium-based trio has been successfully touring Europe, Canada and the USA. With their “Between the Heart and Reason,” the Louvat Bros. have now enriched the acoustic world music scene with fifteen captivating own compositions that are rooted in bluegrass, Irish folk, Balkan, jazz and klezmer music. And they do so with the kind of top-notch technical precision and feather-lightness that will give the listener enjoyment from first to last note.

The trio is composed of Steve Louvat, rendering a pearly and icy clean banjo, Michel Vrydag, with a dancing and grooving bass, and the wild and propulsive mandolin and guitar in the hands of Jeff Cardey, a Canadian living in Brussels, who also supplies occasional vocals. Three “brothers” in spirit provide a new context for classic bluegrass instrumentation and demonstrate in an impressive manner that traditional music styles can be maintained, while at the same being developed for surprising effect.