Even more so than on their previous album (Streetwise), Breakfast in Babylon perpetuates a musical tradition that bridges jazz, funk, and urban African music with a disarming candor characteristic of those who fuse genres without ulterior motives. The twelve tracks, played and often composed by the band members—led by the fiery Jérôme Barde—serve the simple pleasure of pulsating energy, thanks in particular to the powerful rhythm section: the remarkable Akim Bournane on bass and Julien Charlet on drums, plus Arnold Moueza on percussion. Moueza also acts as a choir director when the band members warm up their voices on tracks with sounds reminiscent of an imagined Africa.

The choice of Eric Legnini and Vincent Artaud as producers of the album is significant: great connoisseurs of pop music while also coming from the world of jazz, they have created with the Volunteered Slaves an album strewn with references and nods that constantly moves back and forth between jazz and its related genres; if these speak different languages, it is nevertheless to hammer home the same message: "Black is Beautiful."

A hybrid album, Breakfast in Babylon adheres strictly to Hancock's maxim: "It's better to make funk with jazz musicians than the other way around." It's no coincidence, then, that the best tracks here are covers of great figures of American black music – Prince and his "Controversy," or the album's tour de force, the Jackson Five's little gem "I Want You Back," where Témime's mischievous sax seems to align itself with the breath of an imaginary sixth voice… a powerful ally for a journey through time!

- CITIZEN JAZZ-