ST GERMAIN - Boulevard (The Complete Series) - DLP

‘Boulevard’, the 1995 debut album from Parisian producer Ludovic Navarre — aka St Germain — was by no means the first time jazz had mixed with house. Larry Heard, to name just one artist, was making those connections years earlier. But it was perhaps the first time the mixture had felt so downright inevitable. ‘Boulevard’ is one of those rare records that makes everything sound easy: An album that revolutionized the perception of French music, consummated the union between house and jazz, and spawned a million weakling copies.

The ingredients of ‘Boulevard’ are almost embarrassingly simple. Songs start with a basic riff, as if purloined from the dusty flea market of your dreams; a beat kicks in; various musicians solo over the top. There is nothing clever about it, no production trickery or flashing innovation. It sounds, in fact, like anyone could do it. But anyone almost certainly couldn’t. And the 10,001 copycat records that followed in its wake proved it.