Matelot is a father of Gypsy-guitar music, having performed on & off with Django Reinhardt, as well as a score of French Accordionists, including Gus Viseur, Jo Privat, Tony Murena etc. He has a unique sound, very different from Django's - rolling, fluid and (appropriately for the father of Boulou Ferre) delightfully dissonant. A common thread over the relatively few CD's available, are the beautiful waltzes, which he & his brothers performed.

The "Tziganskaia" CD is one of the most lyrical, poetic, exquisite albums of Gypsy-guitar in history, and is almost like a missing link between traditional Hungarian Gypsy music (replete with Cimbalom) & Gypsy-jazz. It contains performances of rare Django waltzes, and is a MUST-OWN CD.

Another essential CD is "Manouche Party" (see Jo Privat) which features Matelot on each & every track. Several Musette compilation-Cd's, which feature Matelot & his brother, Pierre 'Baro', have been released of late: "Les Plus Belles Valses Musette 1930 - 1943)" (Night & Day - FA014 - 18 tracks) is wonderful, but a cheaper option is "Cafe De Paris 1930 - 1941" (Music Club - MCCD096 - 24 tracks). Given that only 8 songs over-lap between these 2 CD's, you should buy both!

Also look out for a documentary called Kriss Romani), for which he apparently provided the music!