Review by Daniel Deprè
Le Saboteur” is a unique and wild ride. The brass and bass make this a super groovy song that is sure to make you dance. To make this song even more unique the rapping is in French and is sung in a very quirky and off-beat way. The horn players are having a blast with this song and their performances pack so much attitude and sass. This is slowed down Ska music played on a sunny island where no one has a care in the world. Together all the elements combined to create an idiosyncratic and delightfully eccentric song.
The lyrics have a very distinctive flair to them both in how they are written and what they are about. Lyricists Kay Martin and Marina Urquidi are writing about how we all have twelve archetypes that we enact throughout our lives. The lyrics go through each archetype like they are characters in a movie, and although the descriptions of each are brief, they are wonderfully vivid. You can see these different archetypes and easily relate to all of them. The lyrics are also written in such a way that makes them so fun even just to read. (English Translation) “Oh-la-la the mother, costs me dearly, Ditto the Professeur, maybe he’s a lure, mainly it’s the child who guides me now.”
The arrangement is a glistening golden statue, and it is so beautifully bright. The rhythm played by the percussion is instantly catchy and provides a fantastic playground for the horns and bass players to jam on. The bass player throws in some tasty slides, bends, and runs all while maintaining the song's groove and foundation. The rapping vocals are very distinct as they are being sung as a duet, with one singing much higher than the other with a slightly dissonant harmony. This creates a very odd but very cool sound. It’s such an interesting choice how they decided to make a majority of the song instrumental, saving the vocals for the last part of the song.
“Le Saboteur” is a song that subverts any listener's expectations and it is a fun ride from start to finish.
Kay Martin Band
Kay Martin has performed her eclectic jazz, Brazilian/world, soul, and rock/indie repertoire widely throughout and beyond California for over 20 years. Her highly regarded first, straight-ahead jazz CD, Softly, gets regular airplay. Critics say, “wonderful vocal!” “love her voice!” “beautiful!” The band for the Four Sweets recording series is some of LA’s finest: Liz Kinnon, Hussain Jiffry, Enzo Todesco, Roberto Montero, and Kirk Brundage, with horns by Dick Mitchell, Jeff Bunnell, and Charlie Morillas. That genre-bending Afro-Brazilian rhythms project has garnered awards and praise: “fresh new flavor— extremely engaging— captivating musical landscape," and “wide audience appeal.”
In LA Kay has performed with Josh Nelson, Bruce Forman, Henry Franklin, Peter Smith, Gerald Clayton, John Storie, Bennett Brandeis, and more. In northern CA Kay has performed with Murray Low, Ricardo Peixoto, Tim Volpicella, Stan Poplin, Scott Nordgren, and many others.
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For more information on Kay Martin, please visit her website.
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