Badlabecques

Badlabecques is a Jersey folk project founded by singer-songwriter Kit Ashton in collaboration with L’Office du Jèrriais. The group reworks traditional Jersey folk songs with pop and folk influences drawn from a range of musical styles, while keeping the original lyrics and melodies of songs such as “Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri” and “Jean Gros Jean”.

Background

The project begins as a commission from L’Office du Jèrriais, which asks Ashton to create more contemporary arrangements of Jèrriais songs to support language teaching in schools. Ashton, who has been based in Brighton since 2004, works as a musician and tours with artists including Carleen Anderson and Thomas White. White is known for The Electric Soft Parade and Brakes and has a Mercury Prize nomination.

Ashton says the project also connects with family and local history: their grandmother, who lived in St. Ouen, speaks French and Jèrriais until starting school, and Ashton only begins to learn Jèrriais later while exploring Jersey’s folk songs and literary heritage, which stretches back to Wace in the 1100s.

First performance and style

Badlabecques gives its first official performance at Folklore Festival in People’s Park on 1 July 2012. The arrangements combine Jersey material with danceable influences from Africa, Latin America, French Canada and pop, creating what Ashton describes as a quirky but lively band sound with a group of Jersey musicians.

Language and cultural role

The project is closely linked to the promotion of Jèrriais. L’Office du Jèrriais presents the work as a way to bring renewed attention to Jersey’s poetry and song and to help younger listeners engage with the language through music.