Putumayo Presents French Groove

The passing of Putumayo founder and executive producer Dan Storper in May means the current batch of world music compilations are among the final ones he personally curated. Outside Bruce Iglauer, founder and still head at Alligator Records, and Manfred Eicher at ECM, it’s difficult to think of any large independent label that was so personally involved in each release as Storper.

While the company will carry on Storper’s vision of sharing music from around the globe, and the folks doing so are those who were hired by and worked with him, it will inevitably be different.

So, it’s a bit bittersweet to listen to the bubbling, contemporary Gallic pop found on Putumayo Presents French Groove.

The music itself is an enchanting blend of Euro pop, modern café singer-songwriter, and even some dance-ready tunes.

The singularly named Arnold’s “Palace au Soleil” is anchored by the rhythms of acoustic guitar, and warm vocal harmonies bouncing over the bright melody. It’s the sort of song everyone hopes to run across at open mic night—and almost never does.

The most traditional track, the closest to a chanson, is “Samos” by the Loire Valley Calypsos. Another acoustic track, it also has overtones of gypsy jazz. “Une blondinette”by Captain Sparks & Royal Company is even more in a gypsy jazz vein.

“Sirène,” on the other hand, were the lyrics in English could easily reside on the domestic R&B charts. And “Petite idée” has such a hypnotic backbeat going it could easily fill up a dance floor.

Ten tracks in all (as with most Putumayo releases), not a dog in the bunch. It’s a nice slice of what’s going on with pop music across the pond.