Vinyl Of The Week

The Soundwaves Vinyl of the Week is Troupeau Bleu by the French group Cortex.

 

As one of the most important jazz acts to come out of France, Cortex just re-released their 1975 debut album to celebrate its 50th anniversary. 

 

Go ahead, do a deep dive and look them up. I’ll be honest, this group wasn’t on my radar. A friend took me to their sold-out show during the 2024 Montreal Jazz Fest. The packed audience sang along to all of their songs and laughed at the stories that band leader Alain Mion told during breaks between songs (all in French).

 

Their bossa nova type grooves have been sampled by a number of artists including Madlib, Tyler the creator, MF DOOM, Lupe Fiasco, and Flying Lotus.