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Xavier Richardeau – A Caribbean Thing (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 56:44 minutes | 680 MB | Genre: Latin Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Continuo Jazz

The return on record of saxophonist Xavier Richardeau is a nice surprise. Discreet but active, the musician made himself known in Paris in the early 90s by organizing concerts at the Le Houdon bar which quickly transformed the place into a leading Parisian jazz venue. A rare baritone saxophonist in the style of Gerry Mulligan, he gradually freed himself from the bop style, which he mastered down to the end of the keys, to play increasingly personal music. A melodic composer of songs, a dreamer of offbeat rhythms, he quickly became familiar with West Indian music and in particular Guadeloupe where he ended up living. It is there, in Gosier, that he reconnects and develops his appetite for this music, organizes (we do not chase the natural) concerts in a place called New Ti Paris and prepares the repertoire which is recorded for this disc. Apart from “Sous le ciel de Paris”, a song which turns into reggae, the entire repertoire is signed by him and by the singer Véronique Sambin with whom he has shared a musical and personal bond for a long time. We find some of his most “effective” themes, already recorded on previous records, but in more classic jazz aesthetics. Thus “Broussanova” (Hit And Run, 2002) becomes, after an energetic arrangement “Broussa-Samba”, where the two saxophones play in mirror, in unison or in harmonization. We also find “A Carribean Thing”, another composition from 2002 which proves the saxophonist’s long history with this tropism. The themes written by Véronique Sambin carry within them the seeds of the song, as they are perfect for putting words to. In particular “Lili” which sounds like a ballad to turn into a biguine and stays in your head for a long time. Xavier Richardeau imposes the soprano on almost the entire disc, a range which goes better with the tenor, but takes up the baritone on “Waves And Wind”, a quick cover of an old composition “Les Ailes de mon moulin”, published on his album Aube Brune in 1996. Old pots make the best soups! In the French jazz family, that of the Antilles often suffers from a lack of visibility and relay in mainland France. Xavier Richardeau has the merit of playing the smuggler, let’s not shy away from our pleasure.

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