St Germain

In the ‘90s, St Germain’s fusion of deep house and acid jazz played a crucial role in the French Touch, the wave of Gallic dance music that also included Daft Punk and Cassius. Born in the Parisian suburbs in 1969, St Germain (a.k.a. Ludovic Navarre) proudly flew the tricolour flag early on: one of his first EPs was titled French Traxx. But by his 1995 debut album, Boulevard, he was looking outward, balancing sleek Parisian house with samples of vintage jazz and Southern blues. His 2000 breakout LP, Tourist—home to the timeless singles “Rose Rouge” and “Sure Thing”—doubled down on the sounds of long-ago juke joints and speakeasies, draping languid flute and sax riffs over dubbed-out house grooves. Over the years, Navarre’s vision has only widened: he recruited a number of skilled Malian musicians for his 2015 self-titled album, offering his own tribute to the soulful sounds of West African desert blues.