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String's spirit
Jazz Star Henri Texier Goes Classical
Paris
05/11/2002 -
Following in the footsteps of Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, Henri Texier and his Azur Quintet have taken up the challenge of recording a jazz album with a classical string orchestra. Strings' Spirit is a glorious cinematic super production, written by Henri Texier, orchestrated by Claude Barthélémy - and photographed as a 'work in progress' by Guy le Querrec!
Bowing to jazz tradition, the photos accompanying Henri Texier's new double album are printed in sober black and white. And they capture a historic moment: the meeting of the Azur Quintet and the Orchestre de Bretagne in a studio in Rennes. In other words, Le Querrec's photos recount the story of how, for the first time in their lives, 18 violinists, 6 viola-players and 5 cellists teamed up with a jazz quintet led by a double bass-player raised on purely oral music tradition. Le Querrec's photos show a smiling Tony Rabeson perched behind his drumkit, trombonist Glenn Ferris killing time as if he were between takes on a film set and pianist Boyan Zulfikarpasic tickling his ivories. Meanwhile, Claude Barthélémy stands poised in front of the orchestra -which, incidentally, includes Texier Junior as well as Senior! RFI: What particular conditions did you have to put in place to get a project like Strings' Spirit off the ground?
Henri Texier: Well, we had to get the record company on board and get the group to go along with the project, too. Then, of course, there was the main problem of finding someone who could write for string instruments – because that's really not my domain! I'm not capable of sitting down and getting the music in my head down on paper! I'm someone who comes form the oral tradition of jazz. I see myself as more of a melodist, actually. But for this project we really needed to find someone who'd be on top of things – and that someone is Claude Barthélémy!
Claude and I are both completely self-taught musicians, you know. Claude's a guitarist who originally comes from a rock background, but from there he moved on to get involved with the jazz world. After that his career evolved to the point where everyone in the contemporary music world was ringing up and asking him to direct a hundred different types of group – from brass bands to symphony orchestras to the Orchestre National de Jazz, which he's now busy conducting! Claude was the perfect man for our project in my eyes because he's been enriched by all these different experiences and he hasn't been 'formatted' in any way. When a jazz musician like yourself decides to record an album with classical string instruments, what are the main traps to avoid?
I think the first pitfall you've got to try and avoid is churning out mainstream variété music. Don't get me wrong, I haven't got anything against mainstream variété music, but the problem is you entirely miss the point if you do that, because even though the strings can sound really light in variété they can also end up having far too heavy a presence and becoming cloying. And, if you're not careful, you can end up losing the meaning of the music altogether! The second trap to avoid is leading people to believe there's some sort of 'fake' fusion between classical music and jazz… And there are plenty of other traps too, because the thing is strings can be wonderfully dynamic if the musical phrasing is right but they can also become too invasive and destroy the whole musical dynamic if you get it wrong. The other key figure involved in your new album was Stéphane Sanderling, the talented young leader of the Orchestre de Bretagne…
The idea was to work with an orchestra that already existed, because for financial and scheduling reasons it would have been totally impossible to put together our own group of thirty individuals. Besides, we really wanted to work with classical musicians this time round, not just get a studio orchestra who can adapt themselves to any given style. It was Etienne Tison, who's in charge of programming the national stage in Quimper, who suggested we work with the Orchestre de Bretagne – and they accepted without a moment's hesitation when we put the idea to them! The Orchestre de Savoie were also interested in working on the project… But in the end, as I actually come from Brittany myself, I liked the idea of working with musicians from the region. For me, it was like this special nod towards my origins! And I must say the orchestra really love the album, they got in touch the moment they got a copy to tell me so. So we'll be working together again. We'll be performing in Rennes in spring, in fact!
Henri Texier: Well, we had to get the record company on board and get the group to go along with the project, too. Then, of course, there was the main problem of finding someone who could write for string instruments – because that's really not my domain! I'm not capable of sitting down and getting the music in my head down on paper! I'm someone who comes form the oral tradition of jazz. I see myself as more of a melodist, actually. But for this project we really needed to find someone who'd be on top of things – and that someone is Claude Barthélémy!
Claude and I are both completely self-taught musicians, you know. Claude's a guitarist who originally comes from a rock background, but from there he moved on to get involved with the jazz world. After that his career evolved to the point where everyone in the contemporary music world was ringing up and asking him to direct a hundred different types of group – from brass bands to symphony orchestras to the Orchestre National de Jazz, which he's now busy conducting! Claude was the perfect man for our project in my eyes because he's been enriched by all these different experiences and he hasn't been 'formatted' in any way. When a jazz musician like yourself decides to record an album with classical string instruments, what are the main traps to avoid?
I think the first pitfall you've got to try and avoid is churning out mainstream variété music. Don't get me wrong, I haven't got anything against mainstream variété music, but the problem is you entirely miss the point if you do that, because even though the strings can sound really light in variété they can also end up having far too heavy a presence and becoming cloying. And, if you're not careful, you can end up losing the meaning of the music altogether! The second trap to avoid is leading people to believe there's some sort of 'fake' fusion between classical music and jazz… And there are plenty of other traps too, because the thing is strings can be wonderfully dynamic if the musical phrasing is right but they can also become too invasive and destroy the whole musical dynamic if you get it wrong. The other key figure involved in your new album was Stéphane Sanderling, the talented young leader of the Orchestre de Bretagne…
The idea was to work with an orchestra that already existed, because for financial and scheduling reasons it would have been totally impossible to put together our own group of thirty individuals. Besides, we really wanted to work with classical musicians this time round, not just get a studio orchestra who can adapt themselves to any given style. It was Etienne Tison, who's in charge of programming the national stage in Quimper, who suggested we work with the Orchestre de Bretagne – and they accepted without a moment's hesitation when we put the idea to them! The Orchestre de Savoie were also interested in working on the project… But in the end, as I actually come from Brittany myself, I liked the idea of working with musicians from the region. For me, it was like this special nod towards my origins! And I must say the orchestra really love the album, they got in touch the moment they got a copy to tell me so. So we'll be working together again. We'll be performing in Rennes in spring, in fact!
Strings' Spirit is a great title for an album…For me, Strings' Sprit really covers all the different meanings of the word "spirit". Listening to strings can transport you into a different state of mind. It can really – and I use the word without any particular religious connotations here - move your "spirit"… Are you including the strings of your own double bass in that?
Yes, of course, but I'm not just thinking of the strings of my own double bass. What's so wonderful and moving is the whole 'ensemble', the absolutely magical sound that's generated by a full string ensemble, for instance… Or the string instruments accompanying Oum Kalsoum or classical quartets…
So this is your version of "how to create the strings' spirit according to Henri Texier"…
From the moment Claude and I started imagining the project together we knew it had to be recorded in two separate stages. The idea was that we'd start out exploring the compositions with the Azur Quintet in a no-holds-barred kind of way. And then on the basis of this first recording Claude would sit down to write the orchestral arrangements. Originally, the idea was to record a single album but it ended up as a double, because basically the compositions needed time for expression. We went off to Rennes to rehearse with the classical orchestra and we tried to really tone our instruments down and play very softly… especially with the drums. Then, after that, Claude masterminded the definitive recording of the Azur Quintet at the "Label Bleu" studio in Amiens. I let him give very precise instructions to everyone because he was the one who had the final vision of how the music should be. Then, using what we recorded at the "Label Bleu" studio, Claude was able to go away and write the definitive string score. It was interesting working like that actually because right up until the end of the mix we were able to improvise with the string material… I notice that on your new album you do your usual thing of dedicating tracks to special people…
Yes, and as you rightly point out, it's not the first time I've done it either! I enjoy paying tribute to people … people like Art Taylor, for instance, the late great drummer I played with when I was a young musician... and actors like Marcello Mastroianni and Simone Signoret… To be honest, I didn't start out with any particular concept for this album, so I came up with the idea of paying tribute to the people I've been playing with for ten years now. They're people who've given me an enormous amount of support, who've really inspired me and from whom I've learnt an awful lot! So the new album's a bit of a "Dedication Special" really… It's specially dedicated to my musicians, but also to Charles Caratini, our sound engineer, who's the 6th member of the quintet really! And then there's Big Phil (Philippe Tessier Ducros), one of the three linchpins behind the project. He's the one we owe for the truly exceptional sound!
From the moment Claude and I started imagining the project together we knew it had to be recorded in two separate stages. The idea was that we'd start out exploring the compositions with the Azur Quintet in a no-holds-barred kind of way. And then on the basis of this first recording Claude would sit down to write the orchestral arrangements. Originally, the idea was to record a single album but it ended up as a double, because basically the compositions needed time for expression. We went off to Rennes to rehearse with the classical orchestra and we tried to really tone our instruments down and play very softly… especially with the drums. Then, after that, Claude masterminded the definitive recording of the Azur Quintet at the "Label Bleu" studio in Amiens. I let him give very precise instructions to everyone because he was the one who had the final vision of how the music should be. Then, using what we recorded at the "Label Bleu" studio, Claude was able to go away and write the definitive string score. It was interesting working like that actually because right up until the end of the mix we were able to improvise with the string material… I notice that on your new album you do your usual thing of dedicating tracks to special people…
Yes, and as you rightly point out, it's not the first time I've done it either! I enjoy paying tribute to people … people like Art Taylor, for instance, the late great drummer I played with when I was a young musician... and actors like Marcello Mastroianni and Simone Signoret… To be honest, I didn't start out with any particular concept for this album, so I came up with the idea of paying tribute to the people I've been playing with for ten years now. They're people who've given me an enormous amount of support, who've really inspired me and from whom I've learnt an awful lot! So the new album's a bit of a "Dedication Special" really… It's specially dedicated to my musicians, but also to Charles Caratini, our sound engineer, who's the 6th member of the quintet really! And then there's Big Phil (Philippe Tessier Ducros), one of the three linchpins behind the project. He's the one we owe for the truly exceptional sound!
You've been touring the four corners of the world with your Azur Quintet for the past ten years – and you've sold over 250,000 albums to date, including 50,000 outside France. Are you proud to see that Strings' Spirit is being released internationally and on the American market, too? No, as far as I'm concerned America's not more important than anywhere else! For me, it's not the 'great American dream', you know, so much as the 'great American myth'! I've always had a lot of respect and admiration for American musicians. It goes back to 1969 when I was 24 years old and I played with Phil Woods at the Newport Festival. Back in those days Newport was the most important festival in the world. But it ended up becoming so big that it was practically impossible to go and play there unless you moved to the States. And more importantly, you fitted into the American mould – or rather, New York mould, because jazz is New York and that's final!
I played at Newport twice - once fairly recently with Louis Sclavis and Aldo Romano, and once before that when Joe Lovano invited me to play at Village Vanguard. It's a really amazing experience playing there, you know, you feel like you're playing not in a chapel but in a sort of kiva (underground cavern used by the Hopi Indians to listen to the earth's vibrations). You feel these really, really strong vibes because all the great names in music history have played there. But the problem is these days the U.S. authorities systematically refuse to subsidise foreign musicians. And what's that, if it's not a form of protectionism?
One of the most interesting aspects of your new album is that it's got a strong cinematographic edge to it…
Well, in the course of my career I've written a lot for the cinema as well as for television, dance, photography and 'happenings' with artists and stuff. I was already involved in that side of things by around the age of 18 or 20… So I've always had this relationship with the visual side of things. It's funny that you should use the word cinema though, because that really corresponds to how we worked in the studio… In many respects, making this album was a bit like making a film. And I say that because our work in the studio had absolutely nothing to do with theatre or the live performance of a concert… That meant we could experiment with all sorts of things like tracking shots and reverse shots and stuff.
Well, in the course of my career I've written a lot for the cinema as well as for television, dance, photography and 'happenings' with artists and stuff. I was already involved in that side of things by around the age of 18 or 20… So I've always had this relationship with the visual side of things. It's funny that you should use the word cinema though, because that really corresponds to how we worked in the studio… In many respects, making this album was a bit like making a film. And I say that because our work in the studio had absolutely nothing to do with theatre or the live performance of a concert… That meant we could experiment with all sorts of things like tracking shots and reverse shots and stuff.
And close-ups?
Exactly! There's this absolutely amazing close-up on a track called Sacrifice where our pianist Boyan Zulfikarpasic plays solo – and the sound's so overpowering you feel like you've got your head stuck in the piano or something! Honestly, I've never heard Boyan play the piano like that! At other points on the album you feel like you're sitting right up there with the drummer or you've got your ear glued to the double bass. It's great! And it's an interesting way of working because when you play live you're reacting to the public, whereas here it's quite the opposite!… You'll never hear anything like the music on this album in a concert hall, because that would make it something else entirely!
Valérie Nivelon
Translation : Julie Street
28/02/2007 -
