At the court of Louis XV in 18th century France, there was a character who amazed everyone by pretending to be several centuries old. He went by the name of Saint Germain. Ludovic Navarre, alias Saint Germain, pioneer of the French Touch, has become an idol on the international music scene. Without him, Daft Punk, Air and Dimitri From Paris would probably still be playing parties in the French suburbs. St. Germain was in the same generation, but has never shared quite the same commercial success as his French cohorts. When Ludovic was young, his goal was to be a professional sports player, but an accident changed his fate towards music and computers. His first album Boulevard, released in July 1995, focused on a fusion of electronic music and jazz. It has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and has now achieved classic status. It was voted Record of the Year in England and was also nominated for the Dance Music Awards in London alongside artists like Goldie, d’Angelo, Michael Jackson.

Since then, Ludo has gained further renown with his remix of the Cape Verdean Boy Ge Mendes and Pierre Henry. He has recorded under various pseudonyms such as Deep Side, Soofle, and Modus. Today, after a five-year respite from recording due to contractual difficulties, Lud is back with a new album, Tourist, on the prestigious jazz label Blue Note. Says St. Germain: “There will only be four purely house tracks. The whole record will be a continuation of my work, with machines and musicians, live and sampled sounds.” Guest artists include Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin and percussionist Idrissa Diop.