Customer Reviews

Paris Combo

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really like this CD. It's breezy, fun, acoustic (!), nostalgic... what more could one want?! If you are not familiar with Paris Combo, they are a jazz quintet from France. Belle du Berry supplies the singing, while the guys back her with an acoustic ensemble that blends American jazz and even a little swing with French chansons and even some Algerian / Moroccan music. To give you a little further idea, some of the guitar playing is in reminiscent of Django Reinhart. The sum total is an energetic, eminently listenable sound that will have you accompanying them, even if you don't know what she is singing because it is in French. This debut release is outstanding; in fact, I liked it so much I bought a copy for my brother, who liked it so much he, in turn, shared it with some co-workers. Buy it.

Quietly slick band with a fresh, inexperienced (that is to say, un-French, more American) vocaliste. Successful mix of Euro-pop, le Hot Club, and lounge. Serious boulevardiers take a big step back toward tradition from the Negresses Vertes and it works. Dramatic. Great fun. Stand-outs: tr 7-Istanbul (Arabic; play it with (1) Dan Hicks: I scare myself; (2) They Might Be Giants: Constantinople), tr 8-Le roi et le forêt (ska), tr 9-St. Exubérant (Spanish/Moorish); tr 15-Berry-Bouy (klezmer) [53:36]

We discovered the happy voice of Belle du Berry on a Putumayo world music collection and bought this Paris Combo CD as well. Belle and the band are just great early on a weekend morning to accompany cooking and chores around the house. It's cheerful music. Also, the non-Amazon provider got it to us quickly and followed up with an email. Nice service.

Their first album is still one of my favorite albums. It has a modern recording sound to a mixture of French chanson, gypsy jazz, and hot club music. There are probably other ways to classify this music, but I just love it. The english translations are included as well, so that helps to make it easier to understand the meaning of the songs. The Paris Combo are excellent musicians and also excellent lyricists. This album finds its way on to my stereo pretty often.

Being a lover of club jazz and the kind of person who goes ga-ga for tracks like Haitian Fight Song, Freddie Freeloader, or Mack the Knife, I thought I would check this group out on the recommendation of a friend.

I just love this music. These tracks fill me up with an urge to get up and dance, singing as loudly as I possibly can, even if I can't exactly say the words right. Some are calming, some are perky, some are spunky, some have gypsy influence, and each number just oozes with talent and flair. Immediately after the opening track, on which our Belle and wonderful singer starts out in a cloudy, tantalizing voice and then beguiles us further into a dreamland, hypnotically... oh no no no, life isn't a grand mystery, you don't have to leave it be... I am totally sucked in by her sensuality.

Later, St. Exuberant incites images of a Where the Wild things are type journey through native drum circles, or ancient processions of maghreb wandering musicians strumming their twilight pleasure music.

This is a very biased review, as I am a sucker for the French uptempo gypsy music that seems to be a rage right now, similar to bands like Rupa and the April Fish. Shoot, at different times I hear the talent of classic jazz standards, percussing thumps, ducky brassy muted trumpets, twangy guitars keeping my feet tapping.

Even the variety between tracks is impressive. Different styles, but all fitting together like they were a glove sewn of 10 colored fabric, meant to whet the appetite, scintillate the senses in different shades of music.

Need dinner party music; need something you can listen to on your patio dreaming of glasses of wine at the parc de belleville overlooking beautiful Paris, or in a rive gauche cafe dans le quartier latin? This is perfect. It is so French, so cosmopolitan, so jazzy and light club inspired. Shoot, just get it... I am listening to it while I write the review.

I love music and like to discover new music. I can't even remember what I was initially looking for, however, I was lucky that my search brought me to Paris Combo. What a fun album, the singer has a great voice and the songs are such an eclectic combination they made the album fun to listen to.