Stay

　　The man is back, with company and flavour. Those familiar with the alternative face to Dj Cam's solo adventures probably know about the Quartet ensemble. A small jazz combo organised under the likes and directions of one of the original inovators in the fusion of hip-hop and jazz. A true soft jazz acoustic quartet, smooth in the architecture of ambient moods and easy listening in a sort of updated form of west coast jazz via 21st century electronic home studio. The good news is Laurent Daumail has somehow recovered the energy, passion and inspiration he once had for these fusion sounds, and also the business side of things thanks to his invigorated label Inflammable. He has re-released all his classic material and he added up last year his excellent Lost & Found compilation. As you can check regularly on his Myspace page he's persistently working with his long awaited new solo album Seven, which should be ready some time around the second half of 2009. But in the meantime, we have now received another set of the Dj Cam Quartet called Stay. It's an eight tracks excursion into the familiar affinities of moods and elegance by Dj Cam, but also a promising confirmation of good musical shape in the arrangements considering the way the french man has cooked up Sade's "Sweetest Pain" or Burt Bacharach's "Look of Love". I guess you can call the whole thing predictable, mainstream or airwave jazztronica but when it comes to classic downtempo you can't get better than this. by MÁSÀJAZZ by dustyfingers