Search - Olivier Ker Ourio :: Oversea

Under the Oversea Spell...

Ben FELTEN | France | 04/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always loved Olivier Ker Ourio's harmonica playing, and I consider him to be one of the most interesting jazz guys around, all instruments considered. What I particularly love about him is that he has strong roots in the Indian Ocean Isles (Reunion, to be precise) and has not shyed away from making that felt in his records. In the past, however, his projects have tended to be either strongly northern hemisphere (european jazz) or strongly southern hemisphere (world). My preference until now went to the more world projects, Oté l'Ancêtre and Sominnkér.



Oversea is his most accomplished record yet, and it's a marvelous blend of these two hemispheres. It's clearly a jazz project with strong island undercurrents. It's also a jazz album that manages to stay focused, with mostly short and sweet improvisation rather than the longer meanderings which, in my opinion, made Olivier's previous album with Ralph Towner (Siroko) not quite as succesful.



On Oversea, Olivier combines focus, fun and roots, he's clearly enjoying himself, and the music that is produced comes straight from the heart. In other words, this is a winner, and while I may still have a little trouble relinquishing Sominnkér as my favourite Ker Ourio record, I have to admit that this one is damn near perfect.



Another sign of the musical maturity Olivier has reached is that the album is filled with hugely talented guests to whom Olivier is not worried of handing over the spotlight. In fact, he has chosen them well, because they are all polite and talented enough not to show off, and they blend marvelously in his musical universe.



First and foremost is long-time collaborator Sylvain Luc who adds his particular brand of minimalist guitar playing to a little over half the album. He also contributes some strange percussive tracks played on crumpled newspaper or soda cans, to great (if discreet) effect. Olivier also invites Danyel Waro over for two vocal tracks in Creole, the romantic Mangé pou le coeur and the oddly poetic Le roi dans le bois. Waro's voice is as fine as ever and the traditional maloya rhythms and percussion blend in with the jazz arrangements at least as naturally as they did on Sominnkér.



The more jazzy guests include bassist Diego Imbert, drum giant André Ceccarelli, violin master Didier Lockwood (for a magnificant Santa Cruz, the sweetest unison-then-harmony theme you have ever heard) and renowned pianist Jean-Michel Pilc for Dimitile, a slow waltz that echoes of Satie. Oddball singer André Minvielle also collaborates his particular brand of non-verbalised vocals to 7 en Septembre.



Despite these numerous guests though, this is clearly Olivier's own world, from start to sweet finish. A good section of the pieces are self-penned, and even those that aren't are intrisically his. As a case in point is his cover of Stevie Wonder's Alfie. Covering wonder is no picnic at the best of times, but playing one of his harmonica masterpieces is even more daunting, so particular is his playing. And yet Olivier pulls it off with apparent ease, not echoing Stevie, but bringing his own rich and deep tone as well as his particular sense of harmony. Making it, in other words, his own.



As you've probably figured out by now, I love this record.



I am under the Oversea spell."