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Good taste: this is the first term that comes to mind whenever I listen to a record by pianist-keyboardist Philippe Saisse.
Saisse is a name not widely known to most, despite boasting a highly respectable resume: a Frenchman transplanted to the United States, he studied with Gary Burton and carved out a role as a luxury sideman for high-profile collaborations with artists from various backgrounds from the very early years of his career: Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, Al di Meola, David Bowie, Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Rod Stewart, Gato Barbieri, and many others.
In 1988, under the auspices of the renowned Windham Hill label, he made the final statement on so-called New Age music with "Valerian," an hour of neoromantic piano diversions, in the company of Mark Egan's ineffable fretless bass. But times change, and Saisse does not hesitate to change style and ride new trends, even cleverly if you will, but always releasing products worthy of interest, always guided by his guiding star: good taste, precisely. And so our artist puts his refined and discreet pianism, but always of a certain stature, in the service of a very pleasant cocktail of soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop. This gave birth to works like "Next Voyage" and the recent "The Body and Soul Sessions," entirely instrumental, while this "Ready to Go" features the velvety voice of Kelli Sae (formerly with Incognito), as well as the two excellent session musicians David Finck and Scooter Warner, on bass and drums respectively. Starting with the original soul reimagining of the Bee Gees' "Staying Alive," the tracks flow pleasantly: Saisse has the merit of composing and arranging catchy tunes, sparingly scattering the sound fabric with small instrumental refinements, but never frightening the audience with excessive technicalities, while always staying well above the level of banality.
Of course, here we are in the field of simple and declared entertainment: however, since in life we think, engage, reflect, and struggle, it's also nice sometimes to relax and let go, records like this, polite and well-crafted, are more than welcome, and music for which lightness is not synonymous with foolishness, and the term "easy listening", for once, is not synonymous with "a jumble of insipid sentimentality."
Excellent car HI-FI music, or for a romantic and exciting evening with whomever you please.
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