Almost ten years that we have been waiting for Our Man in Polleur! Let’s be clear about this: we haven’t been waiting for nothing. “On the Jazzy Side of my Street” is a success.

And for once, the various facets of our favourite sunflower’s musical personality all appear together: jazz, chanson and Wallonia. He also brought together three of his most loyal partners: Jacques Pirotton, Benoît Vanderstraeten and Bruno Castellucci.

Other guests are peppered through the tracks: Phil Abraham, Steve Houben, Michel Herr, Alexandre Cavalière and the Heliotrope string ensemble. Some class acts, therefore, for music that is played with a subtle blend of humour and emotion. Music that is crammed with allusions and nods in the direction of others. One way, perhaps, of reminding us that professor Cabay is in fact a jazz historian (…) But the essence is elsewhere, needless to say. It’s in the brisk finesse of the writing and improvisations, in the vocal pirouettes and instrumental bursts and also in the successful blend of music and words – a modern marriage in which all hierarchies are forbidden.

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