Veronique Chalot

Long out of print, few copies spotted of this late 70's dreamy folk album...Veronique Chalot was born in Normandy in the north of France, but it was in Paris that she first became interested in traditional French folk music. In 1974 she landed in Rome where she soon earned a small, but dedicated following. England may have its Jacqui McShee (Pentangle), but France and Italy have its Veronique Chalot. For the past three decades Veronique has dedicated herself to playing, recording and researching medieval, renaissance, and early folk music from France and Italy, helping to save these musical forms from total obscurity. A l'entree du temps clair, released in 1982 on the small Italian Materiali Sonori label, was recorded while Veronique was living and researching in Italy. Although it was only her second studio album, Veronique's immense talent and sensitivity was already extremely evident. Here she sings and plays classical guitar (as well as the dulcimer and the hurdy-gurdy), backed by five Italian musicians playing a number of traditional instruments, including bouzouki, bagpipes, crumhorn, bendhir and bodhran, making this album of early French traditional music an enjoyable discovery even nearly three decades after its release.