Les Primitifs du Futur was formed in 1986 by guitarist and singer Dominic Cravic, accompanied by Florence Dionneau (accordion), Daniel Huck (saxophone), Didier Roussin (classical guitar) and Oliver Blavet (harmonica). The group's wide musical spectrum spans musette, chanson réaliste and various idioms such as blues, swing jazz, gypsy jazz and waltz. Another regular partner, the Francophile American Robert Crumb, who lives in the South-West of France, officiates on banjo or mandolin and designs the album covers that create the band's visual identity in his own particular way, in the tradition of the counter-culture comics of which he was a prominent player. After their first album, Cocktail d'Amour, released only on 25cm vinyl in 1986, featuring harmonica player Jean-Jacques Milteau, Les Primitifs du Futur went on to record Trop de Routes, Trop de Trains et Autres Histoires d'Amour (1995), World Musette (1999) and Tribal Musette (2008). Over time, other musicians join the adventure, including Bertrand Auger (clarinet), Jean-Philippe Viret (double bass), Jean-Michel Davis (xylophone), Fay Lowski (musical saw), Marc-Édouard Nabe (guitar), Göran Eriksson (flute), Phil Baldwin (piano), Raúl Barboza and Daniel Colin (accordion), Patrick Artero (trumpet) and Jacques Bolognesi (trombone). After a DVD released in 2011, Concert au New Morning, the compilation Résumé des Épisodes Précérieurs will be released in 2019. Several tracks from the Primitifs du Futur's retro repertoire feature in Martin Scorsese's film Hugo Cabret (2011).
