Gwo Ka – the music Georges Troupe’s son learned all the basics (and the accompanying drum) – is his main reference point. Jazz – the music he grew up listening to, and mixing with, musicians such as Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Kenny Garrett. There’s also the music he discovered in Paris when he arrived there in the 2000s. This includes funk, rhythm’n’blues and metal, as well as music from the diaspora. The first album is a wild journey that includes samples and quotes, but also examines the creole identity. The new album Reflets Denses (Dense Reflections) has more to offer. This is the idea Sonny Troupe developed after Luminescence (the duo with Gregory Privat) came out in 2015. Sonny Troupe’s personality is a mix of similarities and differences. He is more than one thing. If you are to fully grasp his message, you must be able listen between the lines. A seemingly classical theme can be given an electronic twist, or a jazzy treatment can be applied to it. Each time the primary materials are reinterpreted, creating diffractions of them, from http://sonnytroupe.com
