Eloise Trio

1963, Nassau, Bahamas. The well-known hornythologist Tom Stakhanov, traveling in the West Indies for bird watching, including chicks, fall in love with calypso music and, to be more specific, with the female singers. He starts to dig for Caribbean records to remind himself the tropical mood when he will be back in Paris. One night, back home in a famous tiki bar in the French capital, Cedrico AKA « The Manager » introduces him to the no less famous The Loire Valley Calypsos, a band very enthusiatic about exotic music. After drinking « chartreuse » and « crémant », and becoming friends, they convice themselves that it is highly important to "Make calypso female singers great again". This was born « Calypso Madame».

2014 marks the 45th Anniversary of the launch of the Invictus, Hot Wax and Music Merchant labels – the trio of labels that Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland launched following their acrimonious split from Berry Gordy’s Motown Empire. Since the 45rpm record was the fulcrum of the new operation, we thought this would be the perfect excuse to celebrate the 45th anniversary by pulling together every single 45 release from the discography of Invictus, Hot Wax and Music Merchant - both A and B sides. That’s 96 x Invictus 45s, 44 x Hot Wax 45s and 17 x Music Merchant 45s – 157 singles and 269 original recordings total.

What’s behind THE RED DOOR? For pianist Orrin Evans, that question has come to symbolize the daring path his life and music have taken over the course of his three-decade career. On his latest album, he once again flings that door open, delighting in the collaborators, friends, inspiration, and history that he finds inside.