*Welcoming the unexpected
APRIL / MAY 2018
"Now, I no longer rush for anything. Projects often fail; so do the best calculations we make, whereas by making the most of hasards and working on a day-to-day basis without any bias, we end up doing loads of unexpected things."
Letter to Emile Bernard, September 1888 - Van Gogh
April showers bring unexpected flowers…
In April, try as I might to plan some concerts and keep my winter clothes on as wisdom calls for, my shows’ schedule hasn’t stopped being turned upside down. But it finally opened the door to some unexpected adventures, such as a beautiful encounter with Minino Garay and his band “Frapadingos”.
As for the month of May, it continued on this “letting go” pathway, with my 3rd Nomad Project that was held in Zürich and celebrated minimalism.
I therefore dedicate this letter to the unexpected events in life, that push us out of our comfort zone while bringing us the opportunity to outdo ourselves and discover new wonderments.
Concerts dance…
Two shows that were scheduled in April had to be postponed (my apologies to those who had planned to be there).
* 18th of April: concert in Goos with Ptäh, the band with which we play the music of Magma.
* 19th of April: concert in Paris with So Ouatte, my jazz duet with guitarist Robin Nitram.
…hopefully you will be able to see these 2 projects on stage very soon!
A beautiful encounter with Minino Garay and his “Frapadingos”.
Who? If you haven’t heard yet of argentinian percussionist Minino Garay, you might want to drop an hear to his music. Born in Cordoba (Argentina), Minino came to Paris about 30 years ago, and is now mixing traditional latin rythms with other styles of music such as jazz.
An unexpected encounter: I met Minino on April 14th, thanks to my friend Shwu, who invited me to a concert at the club “New Morning”. He was playing a tribute to Carlos Gardel, in accordeonist Lionel Suarez’s quartet.
I was immediately transported by the energy of this man who plays with the heart. Was it the way he was reciting Spanish poems praising tango? Or his very personal touch on traditional percussions?
Anyway, Minino reminded me of my latin-american travels, and the bright connection I have felt so many times while walking around the Andes Mountains. A direct and joyful connection between the heart and the notes that escape from us. Between the soul and the music that expresses it. Between humanity and the world.
Right after the second set, I ran to congratulate him and we got into talking. The day after, Minino invited me to sing with his band “Frapadingos” the following Thursday. Crazy.
Frapadingos is a group of 12 percussionists from Cuba, Brazil, Argentina and Peru, conducted by a dancing yet firm Minino.
Always open to improvisation, the members of the ensemble welcome easily some guests from any horizon, and this is how I managed to embark in the adventure, with the precious (and harmonic) help of Pájaro Canzani on electric guitar and Diego Bravo on keys.
A beautiful explosion of joy.
To be continued…
Some pictures from the 19th of April:
Nomad project #3… in Zürich.
In the evening of May 10th, I flew to Zürich, little helvetian paradise where my 3rd Nomad project was about to take place.
I was going to meet up with Klara Germanier, a guitarist friend I had spent the previous summer with in Boston, at Berklee College of Music.
Klara had totally understood and liked the concept of this project I love so much, and I was looking forward to write one chapter of it with her.
The concept: to organise a concert during which I meet some local musicians on stage, without previous rehearsal, in a place that is unfamiliar to me (foreign city or country).
The objective: to share a unique moment with the audience and the musicians. Our listening skills reach their maximum, everything can happen, and hiding our weaknesses becomes non-relevant because they are part of the project itself. A vehicle for sincerity. Strengths.
A project that also emphasizes on the experience of live music, and the interaction of a band with its audience and the concert venue.
Opening up to the unknown.
Welcoming chances.
Surendering to the world.
Each and every Nomad project develops itself in its own way, in contact with the artists that bring it to life, and the city and the audience that welcome it.
For this edition, only the date of the concert was planned: May 12th. And I would stay some more days there, in order to spend time with Klara and to discover the town.
We chatted a lot while exploring Zürich, and we noticed a recurrent theme of discussion: minimalism, the art of focusing on the essential in life. Klara is now preparing herself for a trip to Japan, where a minimalist trend has been developping amongst the young generation since the beginning of the years 2010; as for me, I am currently clearing my appartment, and reading a lot about this topic – I warmly recommend Dominique Loreau’s wonderful book, The art of essential, that guides me on a daily basis.
These discussions led us to explore the idea of a “minimalist” concert format, and we agreed on a challenge: this Nomad Project would be entirely acoustic, and would integrate, on top of our usual instruments, some more “basic” musical elements such as body percussions and voice.
This format suddenly allowed us to be mobile, and the sun was shining so bright this week-end that we decided to perform outside, on the bank of Limmat river, that runs to Zürich lake. And for the experience to be even more beautiful, we welcomed to the performance the great singer Elena Sommacal, with whom Klara founded the group Pistache Music.
While I am cooking up a video sum-up of the project for you, here below is a picture from our 12th of May concert…
And I hope to see some of you at my next Nomad Project, in July, in Cyprus!
A newcomer in So Ouatte: Bruno the Ukubanjo.
The jazz duet “So Ouatte”, that Robin Nitram and I formed in 2016, has been evolving over the last few months: we have been integrating to our repertoire of jazz standards more and more personal compositions, some French lyrics, and original arrangements.
Some pop/funk tunes have also entered our setlist, and to bring a folk-like touch, a 91 years-old guest, Bruno, is now joining us on some tunes.
We met Bruno in Brooklyn last winter. It is not a ukulele, nor a banjo, but all of this. With its unique sound and its pocket format, I have been carrying it around almost everywhere, and although I like to call it “Ukubanjo“, as my friends from Retrofret, the store where I found it, some would say it would be better to call it “banjolele”.
I let you pick your side!
To discover Bruno, come to our next So Ouatte concert, we will be happy to see you 🙂
So Ouatte in video:
This letter has reached its end, and I’ll now start preparing June concerts and surprises!
Thank you for taking the time to read my words.
See you soon,
