St Germain St Germain

• 1Real Blues05:17
• 2Sittin' Here06:23
• 3Hanky-Panky07:06
• 4Voilà06:31
• 5Family Tree07:54
• 6How Dare You06:44
• 7Mary L.05:22
• 8Forget Me Not05:45
• Total Runtime51:02

Info for St Germain

Fifteen years after the release of the legendary 'Tourist', French house icon St Germain is set to make a return to the scene with the announcement of a third studio album to be released in October.

The self-titled album further builds on Germain's deep house roots, incorporating a love of blues and jazz with his trademark hypnotic electronic loops and vocal samples. Much of the album was recorded live with the participation of African musicians on traditional Malian instruments.

Composed, produced, recorded, and mixed by Navarre at his Paris studio, the Magic House, and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road, “Real Blues” features a vocal sample from Lightnin’ Hopkins’ 'You Caused My Heart to Weep' and instrumental contributions from Brazilian percussionist Jorge Bezerra, Malian kora player Mamadou Cherif Soumano, Malian guitarist and n’goni player Guimba Kouyate, and keyboardist and longtime St Germain collaborator Didier Davidas, from Martinique.

St Germain’s move closer to the source of the jazz and blues elements that were essential ingredients in Boulevard and the internationally acclaimed Tourist led to his interest in those genres’ roots in West African music. Tourist, which sold nearly three million copies worldwide (more than 300,000 in the US alone), was equally beloved in jazz and electronic music circles, reaching #1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and being named one of the Best Albums of the Year by Rolling Stone. In France, the album won three Victoires de la Musique awards (the French equivalent of Grammys), including Best Jazz Album, Best Electronic Album and Best Live Performance.

St Germain (aka Ludovic Navarre)
One of the few producers to pursue a real fusion of jazz and house music, Frenchman Ludovic Navarre began recording in the early '90s using various aliases (Subsystem, Modus Vivendi, Deepside) for a range of French imprints. St. Germain debuted in 1994 for Laurent Garnier's F Communications label and Navarre released his first album, Boulevard, in 1996. Featuring trumpeter Pascal Ohse, the album worked as a hybrid of American R&B and jazz with the growing French house scene exemplified by Garnier, la Funk Mob, and Dimitri from Paris. Tourist, issued at the turn of the century by Blue Note, took the concept further, with Navarre working post-production on a fuller complement of musicians. Navarre has also remixed such varying artists as Björk, Pierre Henry, and the Suburban Knight.

As St. Germain he signed with Nonesuch in early 2015. In May he announced a self-titled offering — his first album of new material in 15 years. Inspired by his longtime love of Malian music, the album was recorded in Navarre's Paris studio. His stable of studio musicians included Brazilian percussionist Jorge Bezerra, Malian kora player Mamadou Cherif Soumano, Malian guitarist and n’goni player Guimba Kouyate, and longtime associate, Martiniquais keyboardist Didier Davidas. St. Germain's pre-release single "Real Blues" was issued in May, with the album scheduled for release in October.

This album contains no booklet.