It was inevitable that one day, Renaud Garcia-Fons would come back his native Paris, cosmopolitan capital to which city the Franco-Catalan bassist dedicates his new album La vie devant soi. The title is from the book by Ajar/Gary, which tells of “the extraordinary bond between a little Arab orphan and a Jewish mama”. Garcia-Fons has brought together David Venitucci (accordion) and Stephan Caracci (vibes and percussion). The underlying idea, essential to the Garcia-Fons credo, being “to create a kind of chamber music, to play together, searching for nuances and sound textures from an acoustic base”.  Here he’s following the chronology of a multi-faceted city from the 19th. Century French School to Parisian Jazz.  And what we get are eleven discreet Parisian scenes. A nose-tapping tip of the hat to Prévert, Doisneau, Michel Simon. From the busy, bustling Montmartre en Courant to the achingly moving Le long de la Seine. Groove and poetry, nostalgia and pure cheek…. an ode to humanity.