St. Germain Shows Range in L.A. Debut

Context is everything.

Take six musicians comparable to those on stage Wednesday at the El Rey Theatre and put them in a little club, and you’d have an accomplished homage to ‘60s cool jazz and ‘70s jazz-funk.

But add a guy working electronic beats from a platform behind them and make the whole thing come from France, and you’ve got one of the hippest tickets in town--the L.A. debut of St. Germain. People who probably would have little interest in going to a jazz club whooped and cheered every solo.

Given that Ludovic Navarre--major-domo of this operation and the guy up on the platform--has assumed an alias first used by an 18th century French con man, it might seem that a fast one was being pulled on naive fans. What gave the lie to that on Wednesday was the execution. Navarre’s concepts and techno touches, while not particularly innovative, provided winning dynamics and intriguing juxtapositions.

The key was that his band can really play, transcending the pleasant dinner music of the new St. Germain album, “Tourist.” Trumpeter Pascal Ohse, saxophonist-flutist Eduoard Labor, keyboardist Didier Davidas, guitarist Alex LeGrand and percussionists Jean Ludovicus and Jorge Bezerra stepped up with both solid ensemble work and persuasive soloing.

And they didn’t stick to one formula, moving from the jazz loops of “Rose Rouge” (with a vocal sample of Marlena Shaw) to the blues-rooted “Sure Thing” to an effective reggae dub digression. Who knows? Maybe it will steer fans toward some real jazz shows.