Music
that’s free and pulsive.
Since the fall of 1993, Les Amants de Juliette
interpret music that’s orphaned but serene, whose essence is born from
the desire to turn our ears towards far away cultures. The trumpet, present
ever since the beginning of jazz, takes the vocal role. The tablas evoque India
and its thousand year old musical tradition while the percussion is ageless.
The prepared piano with its resonators conjure wealth of Indonesian tone
melodies, but also polyrhythms from the African continent. Les Amants de
Juliette have chosen an uncommon musical voyage.
This composer is specialized in big bands (Quoi
de neuf Docteur 1983/1997). He actually plays with the « Thuillier
Brass Trio », the collectif « Hradcany » and
« Around 3 Gardens ». He created in 2001
« Haute Fréquence » (music and interactive video
show) and « 4.1 » (spatial quadraphony). Today, his work
mostly turns towards interactive performances, mixing improvisations, writting
and technology.
This musician is one of the representant of he
actuel french scene, born in the 90’s at « Les Instants
Chavirés » in Montreuil. Founder or co-founder of several
orchestras of the new génération (Kartet, The Recyclers, Painting
and Delbecq 5), he actually turns in many international festivals. He also
plays with Steve Argüelles, Guillaume Orti, François Houle, Evan
Parker, Tony Coe, Jim Black, Marc Ducret. Big fan of György Ligeti since
his adolescence, he’s also fascinated and influence by traditional
central african musics. At last and to quote Telerama, a french newspaper, this
musician’s continuously creating jazz of the future, always moving, high
temperature of creativity, beeing and living on in the same time, a great
pianist of the new generation.
He began studiing drum in the 80’s before
learning tablas during many travels to India where he met his master, Pandit
Shankar Ghosh in Calcutta. During ten years, he worked with the theatral
company, « L’Entreprise » as musician and also
actor and composed many musics for theatre. He’s actually playing with
Akosh Unit and Didier Malherbes.
PRESS
REVIEW
JAZZOSPHERE march 2002
SERGE ADAM / BENOIT DELBECQ
/ PHILIPPE FOCH
Les Amants
de Juliette ***
A rare trio,
these lovers are. Struck by Juliette since 1994 (their first recording), and
who don’t tire in regularly addressing us news of their latest conquests,
like this new opus taking once again the name of the trio formed by the
trumpetist Serge Adam, the pianist Benoît Delbecq and the percussionist
Philippe Foch. In nine thought out and playful pieces, the three musicians
prolong the universe of Don Cherry encountering world music and a melodic
itinerary. Adam on the trumpet, Delbecq on the prepared piano and Foch on
tablas and other percussion instruments share the same sense of space, where
interplay takes the lead. Raw improvisation without fillers, where the rhythmic
canvas gives an impression of impressionistic ballads.
Thierry Lepin
IMPROJAZZApril 2002
The story
doesn’t say how many lovers Juliette has. However, this third CD by the
trio shows how much these three « Romeos » (pianist
Benoit Delbecq, the trumpet of Serge Adam and the tablas of Philippe Foch) know
how to practice the art of seduction without provocation but with irresistible
talent and elegance. Crossing through polyrhythmic India and Africa, the
prepared (or not) piano mixes with tablas and the trumpet traces sophisticated
and delicate light accents. In short, Juliette is a satisfied woman. We are
too.
Xavier Matthyssens
Juliette’s Lovers
March 9 at The Maroquinerie
Built on
repeating intricate motives, the music of the trio Juliette’s Lovers
develops on a playful thread, a game where each member brings his own share.
The orchestration is atypical: on the piano, Benoît Delbecq weaves a
trace of clear notes, sustained by the polyrhythms of the tablas and other
percussion instruments of Philippe Foch, while on the trumpet, the measured
phrasing of Serge Adam draws arabesques. Delicate work, resting on remarkable
placement that one can hear on the last CD of this trio (Quoi de neuf docteur/
Night & Day). But it’s still in concert that the formula flowers in
full.
Hugues Le Tanneur
LE MONDE March
2002
Serge Adam, Benoît Delbecq, Philippe Foch
Juliette’s Lovers
Three CDs since 1994, all three titled Les Amants de Juliette, to render
the combination of jazz with music from elsewhere (India, black Africa…).
The subject, acoustical, avoids the breakup of tradition and showmanship. Serge
Adam (trumpet), Benoît Delbecq (prepared piano) and Philippe Foch (tablas
and percussion) are rather pointillist improvisers, bothered with detail and
maintaining a collective momentum by their choice of notes, rhythms and
timbres. Clearly on the same wavelength, the three musicians open a vast
imaginary space without leaning toward the contemplative aspect one expects
under these circumstances. Organic, sensual and of great intelligence.
Sylvain
Siclier
1 CD Quoi de
neuf docteur. Distributed by Night & Day.
JAZZ
MAGAZINE March 2002
ADAM-DELBECQ-FOCH
Juliette’s
Lovers
(Quoi de neuf docteur 063/Night & Day).
CDs
are objects. This one, however, is
a curiosity. Even so, note this since no one will tell you elsewhere, it all
started with a rejection of the object in question. The one I have in my hand
is no longer the initial one. One of the members of the trio, after having
nightmares about its visual aspect– a photo of a male nipple on a contour
woven card …- destroyed all parts of it, outer case, metal disk, because
of due rights. The esthetic avant-garde does not exclude ethic reserves or
moral labels… The music is left alone, intact under a remodeled
plastic-paper case. Juliette’s Lovers represents a story of the race of a
light horseman infatuated with music freed from its stall. First comes their
light stride, then their capability to switch from trot to gallop when needed
in order to free up the track, to speed up the step. If needed, the
polyrhythmic strikes reintroduce Africanisms, the chords bring orientalism, the
layering of the purposefully masked instruments (does a prepared piano remain a
piano?) sometimes leads us to a non-identified product. It’s just a
question of which color dominates. And the desire. The perfume that lingers
remains an exterior factor. The only reality that cannot be exceeded: the
trumpet is the song figure. The pleasure in taking it all in comes in the month
of the ballad (May). One can feel that the music of the trio aims to let in
fresh air. Light and airy (Adam), acrobatic spirit (Delbecq) and harmoniously
muscular (Foch). The panorama here, out of focus, with a zoom lens or even out
of the picture, requires the listener to have a keen sense of reception. That
goes to show that taboos of the eye and the ear aren’t necessarily two of
a kind. This could be the real lesson to learn in the love story of
Juliette’s Lovers.