Parcours – Bérose, 2012

🎶🎷🎤🌴🎹 In 2012, Dominique and Sonia Bérose released the aptly named album Parcours under their own names, charting their musical journey. An eminently Creole album, Parcours delves into jazz, funk, gwoka, bèlè, beguine, mazurka – and zouk is never far away – and brings together many of the musicians who have crossed their paths over the last thirty years. From Happy Lewis to Philippe d’Huy, Sonny Troupé to Frédéric Caracas, the list is impressive. Dominique draws on his own compositions, rearranged for the occasion, such as Rue du Faubourg du Temple (in Paris), Petit Havre (in Guadeloupe) or Restless Bay (in Africa) to underline the journey. New tracks give way to vocals by Beethova Obas (Too Late, funky as hell), Dave Martial (Parcours), Jean-Paul Pognon (the nostalgic Jaden Gran Manman) and Ralph Thamar (Rapho, of course). Sonia’s vocals feature prominently on most of the tracks, including two of her own compositions, Doulé Zenfan and Sé Konsa Mwen Yé, and Dominique himself takes the microphone with Sé Li Ki Ni La Klé. Parcours unfortunately fell a little under the radar when it was released, but it remains a fantastic Creole jazz album to be discovered. To be exact, Parcours was first released two years earlier under the So’n’Do label, with a slightly different line-up, and deserved a revamp, which was then entrusted to le Bananier bleu at the time.