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The way trumpeter
Pascal Ohsé sees it, R&B, soul, and jazz are "the closest thing we have to a universal musical language." The longtime
St. Germain associate also believes it is a language that needs an update once in a while, something his
Soel project set out to do from the start. Touring with the jazz and electronica-blending
St. Germain meant
Ohsé had access to
St. Germain leader
Ludovic Navarre's enormous collection of vintage vinyl. Digging dusty grooves during the day and playing contemporary, genre-defying music at night influenced the trumpeter to start
Soel in 1998. Songs were written and a dream list of guest musicians was chosen, but work with
St. Germain and a desire to make sure things were perfect kept
Soel on the back burner. It wasn't until 2004 that
Ohsé felt his brew of cerebral jazz and funky soul was ready, and with the help of
Navarre he recorded
Soel's debut. The cosmopolitan and deep
Memento was released by Warner Bros. in early 2005. ~ David Jeffries