Sunnyside Cafe Series: Paris Fetiche: The French Classic Rendez-Vous

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Laurent Balandras
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Adapter: Nino Ferrer. Intriguing as the album's title may be, its intention is to portray a love of Paris, rather than anything involving any kind of kink. But it's a Paris of the imagination, a sort of surreal dreamscape, rather than a city of concrete and stone. How else, after all, do you explain Diana Ross covering "My Man" sitting on the same disc as Maurice Chevalier and -- believe it or not -- Yves Montand? It's smooth and sophisticated, just like the image Paris has always sought to project, with Marc Almond singing Jacques Brel's "Litany for a Return" just to inject the slightest hint of sleaze. There's an abundance of great names -- Shirley Horn and Abbey Lincoln being but two, and obviously a very strong French factor; if this were any more overtly Gallic, it would come with a bottle of red wine and a packet of Gauloises. Pleasant but not exactly challenging, and not really evocative of the true France. And why did they include Brenda Lee? A great singer, but more Nashville than any arrondisement. ~ Chris Nickson

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