Sang Mêlé – Eddy Louiss, 1987

🇲🇶 🎹 🎷 🎛️ 🌊 Eddy Louiss enjoyed a dazzling and remarkably rich career, so diverse that any attempt to summarise it would be futile. The only constant was perhaps his ability to blend his two major influences—jazz and Martinique—throughout. Around these two pillars, the variations were endless. Collaborators included Nougaro, Johnny Griffin, the Double Six, Petrucciani, Stan Getz, Kenny Clarke, Henri Salvador, Humair, Ponty, and more. In 1987, Sang Mêlé explored electronic sounds, with synthesizers joining the organ in an almost solo album where he did nearly everything. The swing of the B3 rides on homemade sequences, and the blues takes on distorted tones. A few guests enhance the project: Dominique Pifarély’s hypnotic violin on the title track, the rhythmic trio of Sixun, Paco Séry, and Michel Alibo on Célestin, a biguine with New Orleans flair, and the trio of percussionists Abdou M’Boup, Idrissa Diop, and Moustapha Cissé elevating the trance of Español. The album closes with the poignant That Lucky Old Sun, and its striking black-and-white cover, illustrated by Martine, his wife, adds to its allure.