St Germain Tourist CD

TOURIST is the 12-track release by French artists St. Germain and includes "Rose Rouge," "So Flute," and a Todd Edwards remix of "Sure Thing."

Since the advent of acid jazz in the mid-'80s, the many electronic-jazz hybrids to come down the pipe have steadily grown more mature, closer to a balanced fusion that borrows the spontaneity and emphasis on group interaction of classic jazz while still emphasizing the groove and elastic sound of electronic music. For his second album, French producer Ludovic Navarre expanded the possibilities of his template for jazzy house by recruiting a sextet of musicians to solo over his earthy productions. The opener "Rose Rouge" is an immediate highlight, as an understated Marlena Shaw vocal sample ("I want you to get together/put your hands together one time"), trance-state piano lines, and a ride-on-the-rhythm drum program frames solos by trumpeter Pascal Ohse and baritone Claudio de Qeiroz. For "Montego Bay Spleen," Navarre pairs an angular guitar solo by Ernest Ranglin with a deep-groove dub track, complete with phased effects and echoey percussion. "Land Of..." moves from a Hammond- and horn-led soul-jazz stomp into Caribbean territory, marked by more hints of dub and the expressive Latin percussion of Carneiro. Occasionally, Navarre's programming (sampled or otherwise) grows a bit repetitious -- even for dance fans, to say nothing of the jazzbo crowd attracted by the album's Blue Note tag. Though it is just another step on the way to a perfect blend of jazz and electronic, Tourist is an excellent one. ~ John Bush

Import Tour Edition features a bonus disc with three remixes, 'Rose Rouge' (Blaze Early Shelter Mix), 'Sure Thing' (Todd Edwards Deepline Remix) and 'Rose Rouge' (Spiller Mix). 12 tracks in all. EMI.

St. Germain: Edouard Labor (flute, saxophone); Claudio De Qeiroz (baritone saxophone); Pascal Ohse (trumpet); Idrissa Diop (talking drum); Ludovic Navarre (programming).

Additional personnel: Ernest Ranglin (guitar).

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.114) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000".
Rolling Stone (9/14/00, pp.177-8) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Fusion without seams, swing that never flags, TOURIST is a modern valentine to one of the lost joys of jazz - as dance music."
Alternative Press (12/00, pp.113-4) - 3 out of 5 - "...A straightforward fusion of house, Latin, dub, techno and trip-hop....characterizing much of what St.Germain brings to the table stylistically..."
CMJ (8/28/00, p.23) - "...Astonishing...[the] continuation of innovative jazz-house collage....an obvious jazz album and DJ set at the same time..."