Newton Circus

Helen Gillet is French speaking from birth (Belgium) and taught herself to sing and play cello at the same time during the lonely weeks and months after Katrina. Wazozo began in the spring of 2006 when Helen returned to New Orleans and teamed up with Daron Douglas to play and sing French songs at a coffee shop in New Orleans. At the time the duo was called 'Christmas in the Trenches,' attracting the weary construction obsessed community to take a break with a glass of iced tea or coffee and listen to some French cafe music. In 2008, Helen added guitar, harp, accordion and French horn to create the fuller sounding string focused Wazozo. Wazozo takes traditional French songs by artists such as Georges Brassens and Edith Piaf and adds a fresh, organic, theatrical and New Orleans rhythmic style to them. 'Newton Circus' is Wazozo's debut record and includes Daron Douglas on violin, Gregory Good on guitar, Luke Brecthelsbauer on harp, Bill Strickland on French horn, Walt McClements on accordion and Helen Gillet on cello and vocals.