Mister HARMONICA. But Ker Ourio plays the chromatic, the one with the slide (allowing to play flats and sharps). The sound is different. The son of Reunion Island also marks his difference with his very personal set of tropical rythms and grooves. As he says: “My ancesters settled in Reunion Island as far back as 1728, from Lorient, Brittany. I grew up listening to Sega music and Maloya , the traditional slave music. I have a deep love for melody. As a child, I also listened a lot to Louis Armstrong…”.
Since that time, the virtuoso has constantly improved his palette. The inspired composer wrote all songs on Magic Tree album, using all kinds of grooves (Maloya, Calypso, Habanera, Cachuca…). The improvisations and choruses demonstrate considerable mastery. Sometimes, the heart overflows. At the New Morning concert, during a song dedicated to his wife Jenn (a song on the album), the leader goes for a wonderful second chorus that killed everyone. At this concert, three giants performed with him: guitarist Philip Catherine, drummer André Ceccarelli, Hammond organ player Emmanuel Bex. Ker Ourio likes to dialogue. He listens, respects, shines at his turn. The first time he was introduced to Michel Petrucciani, they played till 7 in the morning . Other great musicians fell under his spell: Michel Legrand, Georges Moustaki, Aldo Romano, Rick Margitza….No surprise: he never stops telling stories. Who would decline a good story ?”
Bruno Pfeiffer – Libération.fr
“For the Jazz harmonica world, Toots Thielemans, the man who transformed this toy instrument into an essential voice in Jazz and Cinema (just remember "The Getaway", by Sam Peckinpah in 1972), is still the main figure. With his seventh album since 1998, MAGIC TREE, Olivier Ker Ourio gets to shine in his own light, breathing calmly in his harmonica as on a summer night. The light is soft, the son of Reunion Island climbed the magic tree of his childhood and looks at the sunset over Saint-Denis. He dreams. And he has ideal partners: Emmanuel Bex, who mixes warmly the sounds of his Hammond organ with the sometimes very close mouth organ sounds; Philip Catherine, the one and only, king of melody; André Ceccarelli who discreetly anchors the boat.
All Ker Ourio's original compositions swing with island rythms: calypso, habanera, cachucha, maloya..., that the Jazz critic will uneasily identify, while Olivier Ker Ourio euphorically improvises with generous lyricism. It is easy to understand why so many great musicians, from Michel Petrucciani to Ralph Towner, from George Moustaki to Michel Legrand, from Aldo Romano to Rick Margitza, insisted to play with him: he breaths with the soul.
Michel Contat 4 Clés Télérama (Rating: * * * * n° 3175 - 20 nov 2010)