by Sean Westergaard
Outre Mer is Garage a Trois' third album and the soundtrack to the French film of the same name. The music inhabits the same "funky with atmosphere" realm as Emphasizer, but this time Skerik sticks to just saxophones (no synth or electronics). The prevalence of Mike Dillon's vibraphone gives much of the album a great late-night jazz noir feel, something like a leaner version of Tuatara's first album. There are a couple departures, as on the Latin-sounding "Merpati" where the vibes are traded for conga, and the rollicking sax and percussion of "Circus." Skerik has some really nice moments on "Etienne" and "Needles" and Stanton Moore's drumming is as solid as ever, throwing down polyrhythms all over the place. Charlie Hunter continues to amaze, pumping up the bass on "The Machine" and "The Dwarf" and performing head-spinning, ultra-nimble simultaneous leads and basslines on tracks like "Outre Mer" and "Needles." Dillon and Skerik make a great front line, trading licks back and forth along with nice unison playing, and as a rhythm section, Hunter and Moore are funky as all get out. Lately it seems everything Charlie Hunter touches has turned to gold, and Garage a Trois has evolved from a cool side project to a great band. Outre Mer is the proof, and stands up just fine entirely divorced from the film.