Soel

Trumpeter Pascal Ohsé regards R&B, soul, and jazz as “the closest thing we have to a universal musical language.” As a longtime associate of St. Germain, he also holds that such a language occasionally requires renewal, an objective that guided the formation of his Soel project. While touring with the ensemble, whose sound merges jazz and electronica, Ohsé gained repeated access to leader Ludovic Navarre’s vast archive of vintage vinyl. The daily ritual of unearthing older grooves, paired with nightly performances of boundary-crossing contemporary music, prompted him to launch Soel in 1998. Although material was composed and an ideal roster of collaborators assembled, commitments to St. Germain and a determination to refine every detail postponed further progress. Only in 2004 did Ohsé consider his blend of cerebral jazz and funky soul sufficiently mature; with Navarre’s assistance he then captured Soel’s first album. Warner Bros. issued the resulting cosmopolitan and deep Memento in early 2005.