A mitzvah, this album, I’m telling you! Without a cover to tell you otherwise, you would swear this was the latest offering from one of downtown NYC’s plethora of latin/klezmer/Balkan/jazz juggernauts on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. Instead, Ipso Facto turn out to be Montréalers, featuring David Buissieres on guitars, Chantal Bergeron on violin, Simon Dolan on standing bass and Francis Roberge on percussion.

The quartet plays with verve, restrained passion, and a healthy dollop of humour. Though lovingly and seriously executed, most every track betrays a little glint in the corner of the eye, a little “Yiddish Meshuggas” (as the second cut is entitled). Ipso Facto effortlessly slide between rhythms and styles, with the hearty acoustic voice of Bergeron’s violin usually taking the lead. Time changes between and even within the cuts make the twelve-track CD appear to contain even more tracks. A lively latin dance tune will suddenly slow down to catch its breath and continue as a reggae stroll; a cowboy hoedown will take sharp, jazzy turns during the refrain.

All the tunes have been penned by Buissieres (save one on which he shares a writing credit with Bergeron), and thus La spirale de l’escargot is also a compact showcase presenting the broad talent of a first-rate composer. And Buissieres leaves plenty of room for his compadres to follow their own muses in short bursts of inspired improvisation.

Life-affirming chamber stylings, compellingly composed and impelling the listener up onto the dancefloor, imaginary or hardwood.