Fal Frett - Part 2

Hey there. Back again today and lucky for us I was able to locate the remainder of the Fal Frett catalog. I also made a mistake in the last post. The label is from France but the band itself is from Martinique. 

Starting with 1978's Fal Frett 2, the band started to incorporate vocals and I made instrumentals for each album. I think they came out OK. This is my 3rd time through the catalog and I'll be going over each album with the instrumentals in mind. The vocals aren't bad by any means, and are actually somewhat smooth, albeit in French, which I don't understand. I just prefer instrumentals. 

The same band returns with the addition of flautist, Robin Vautor and percussionist Ralph Thamar. I would describe this as light fusion and it reminds me of some of the CTI releases from the same timeframe. I start really digging this one around the 3rd tune, "Quadrille", a pretty bouncy tune which features some great play from the percussionists. "Ronde Sentimentale" develops into a nice tune as well with Jacky Bernard shining on keys. This one closes with an excellent tune in "Dave" which features great complementary play between the flute and sax. We also have some nice play on the synthesizer from Jacky. 

With that we move on to Fal Frett 3, released in 1982. We have the same group of personnel that we heard on the previous album. The band really sets the tone with the second tune here, "Ziriguidum." A very groovy tune with great play from Monville and Jacky Bernard. A little reminiscent of Bob James; I can dig it. "Zoubi" follows which features absolutely great stuff on flute from Vautor and Jacky on Rhodes. Another solid tune in "Veronique" follows with more great playing all around. "Chal' Babi" and "Marius" close this one out - both solid tunes, as well. Monville dominates "Marius" and we have another album in the books. 

The next release comes in 1983 and is a self-titled release, the same as the debut album. I've tagged it here as Fal Frett 4 due to YTM issues when I uploaded everything. The group added a second keyboardist in Phil Paulo and Nicol Bernard also plays some vibes which I believe we've only heard one other time.

This one starts off rather synthy with "Contemplation Pipiri" but the track really shines when they pivot to the Rhodes about midway through. "Gato - Sisson" might be my favorite tune of the catalog. A very bouncy, funky feel-good tune with great flute play. This one closes with another strong tune in "Cinco Ploumasse" which features some nice work on the vibes as well as the synthesizer. Not as consistently good as the first 3 we've heard but still a solid album.

The final album I have here is from 1984 and features the same group with the only change being on saxophone. Monville exits and Luther Francois enters. Cha Pistache opens with a reasonably decent title track. But the wheels fall off pretty quickly with "Nycolson." Not much to write about on this one. The one redeemable tune would be "Mazouk Siderale" but that's being generous. Mostly forgettable stuff here.

As I'm looking, there are actually 2 more albums, one from 1994 and the other from 2013. I'll take a look to see if I can locate those final 2. Perhaps the group returned to a more interesting sound. EDIT: They didn't. If anyone loves Cha Pistache, let me know. I'll share the last 2 albums. 

Fal Frett - Fal Frett (1976)

Hey there. I have a few longer posts I've been working on, but wanted to squeeze a quick one in since it's been a while. 

We're going to travel to France for this next one, with the 1976 self-titled debut from the band Fal Frett. I've been unable to hunt down the rest of their catalog, but I'll keep looking. 

Here we have a quintet made up of Bib Monville on sax, Jacky Bernard on keys, Alex Bernard on bass, Nicol Bernard on percussion with Jacky Alpha on drums. All originals here with the first 5 tunes being credited to Jacky Bernard with the closing tune going to Monville.

A very funky, jazz-fusion start to this one with "Fal Frett" which features great playing from Bernard on keys. The soprano sax comes out for the quick "En Devirant" and also on another nice tune in "Baza-Bar." The absolutely excellent "Untel" follows and features more great play from Monville and Bernard. Two solid, yet slightly calmer, tunes close this one in "Picom" and "Biguila" with my favorite of the two being the former. 

Overall a great debut album from a group I'd love to hear more of. Please share if you have any other pieces of their catalog. And I'll keep digging.

Plenty more to come, so please stay tuned!