Search - Reminiscence Quartet :: Psycodelico

An Urban Funked Up Adventure

bordersj2 | Boston | 11/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Remi Quartet was one of my favorite bands. These cats knew how to fuse the jazz and bossa scene to no ends and the musicians they enlisted were pure class! But what gets me about this cd is the copyright of it - 1995. Big year for nu-bossa and jazz, but maybe nothing new in the France St. Germain scene. Thinkin' about it, you also had Towa Tei coming out with "Future Listening" and while the sounds of that cd and this one are extremely different, both of them are similar in that they were way ahead of their time. Towa Tei had Bebel Gilberto before she became the mainstream musician she is today, but Remi Quartet trumps it by having the ultra powerful voice of Salome De Bahia.



And what a powerful voice it is! I say it with every cut she's on. Whether it be the Coisa Nossa cut from way back in the jazz lounge scene to her rendition of Outro Lugar, Salome De Bahia's pure... power. Check her on the funked up remake to Orlandivo's "Onde Anda O Meu Amor". Blows my mind - great flute, great bass guitar and that percussion that makes you think of a city jazz scene, maybe in NY. Also check "Roda Mundo", another track with some heavy bass guitar but with this track, the key component is how the tune just sort of glides. Ana Mazzotti's original was rather sweet (as with pretty much all of her work) and Remi Quartet's rendition does it justice with this facelift. But I think when listening to "Psycodelico" as a whole, you've gotta take notice to the originals on here. I mean... tell me that you don't feel a twinge of PSG football in "Injury Time", or how about remembering PSG a few years ago with the likes of Ronaldinho Gaucho (now at Barcelona)... talk about "Inspiration"! The touch, the pace, the way he nutmegs opponents much like Remi Quartet's flute and solo efforts in the track itself.



I HIGHLY recommend this. Keep in mind that this is the original and that "More Psycodelico" is just that, a follow-up project with a few more 'new' cuts in a sort of re-issue format on Yellow label (think Bossa Tres... Jazz, Tom & Joyce) while this one here was on the same label as the great Bossa Brava compilations of old. The cuts on her are quality. Also, if you dig this, be sure to check out St. Germain Des Pres Cafe III and V and of course, "Tourist" by Ludovic Navarre aka St Germain. A lot of people say he was the 'first' to put that extra spin of electronica over the jazz but this is just one of many examples of bands that were cuttin' it up long before the brilliant album "Tourist" came out! For More Salome De Bahia, check "Cabaret" and "Bossa Tres... Jazz" or the commercial release, "Bossa Mundo", also on yellow records. Otherwise, good luck hittin' the vinyl spots."