Nagori

For their fifth full album, the four ‘sons of a Gypsy French poodle’ (as their name translates, roughly) have expanded to a working sextet that now includes a ‘daughter’ in the shape of Maryll Abbas on accordion. The addition of special guests on oud and percussion also lends pronounced Middle Eastern and North African notes to their self-described ‘off-centre Gypsy jazz.’

‘Mal de Mer’, for example, a feature for Xavier Margogne’s guitar, is coloured by the nimble percussion and a haunting combination of accordion and bass clarinet. Similarly dextrous North African percussion and Stéphane Cozic’s double bass, splendid throughout, heft Samuel Thézé’s rich, velvety clarinet work on the obliquely funky ‘Maître d’Homme’. A combination of oud and clarinet renders ‘Doce Lamentação’ suitably melancholic, then steers the following ‘Songe et Cauchemar’ through a kind of sonic nightmare towards a bright conclusion. Pick any one from nine, in fact, and you find a little epic that blends influences from around the world in the kind of jazz manouche ragout heard on the final ‘Une Époque’. This is smart, accomplished and convincing music. After 17 years and counting, like a fine French wine, these sons of poodles just get better and better with age.