By Steve Peralta

Gérald Toto’s voice and compositions float effortlessly between the sensuous and the congenial. His work is reminiscent of Rinôçérôse without the beat (“En Rose Ou Violet”), José González (“Et Si”) and maybe a little Anita Baker (“Secrets Culinaires”). The Paris-based artist’s music is purely West Indian in origin with some folklore in tow, but also unmistakeably French in sentimentality.

Toto’s music and life is also about the principle of distinction. The past few years have seen Toto in collaboration with people such as sound engineer and jazz eclectician Jean-Pierre Smadja (Smadj), whose own signature blending of acoustic and electronic sounds rose to international favor in 2000 with the release of “Equilibriste,” Marcel Kanche, Lili Bonich, and Zora, to name a few.

Toto is a complete and mature musician. His latest release, “Kitchenette,” features grey ballads such as “Par temps calme” and synthetic, but sophisticated political tracks such as “No Man’s Land” and “L’eau Martienne.” It’s a solid release with a wide range of sophisticated, acoustic arrangements complemented by the light and airy voice of a Gérald Toto at his peak.

Toto tours next month in France with dates in Montreuil outside of Paris on June 2 and Paris proper on June 21.

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NeoAztlan editor and founder Steve Peralta is a native of Colorado and graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver. He has been creating content for Web, print and radio for nearly 15 years. Past projects include work with the former Sony Interactive, several Internet boom content providers, and Capitol Underground pirate radio, among others. Peralta can be reached at speralta@neoaztlan.com.

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