Fwd: new and def : blog 04-08-08

Some news before going on vacation for a few days .

In July, I went back to the Canary Islands . The Concert project is progressing well. I'll tell you more about this project soon.

I spent some time with Daniel Troberg from Elektron, exploring the machinedrum. Few days ago, I have got a very nice surprise from Daniel and all the Elektron team.

I received as a present for my birthday (in advance ..!), a special version of the monomachine ,specially prepared for me with a Diploma from Elektron for my contribution in electronic music world wide.

It is an extraordinary instrument and such a generous mark of appreciation coming from a brand, which has already marked our times in the synthesizers world.

It was like Christmas and I spent the whole week-end playing with it..

I also spent some time with the new Analog factory experience from Arturia. It is a good instrument to work in the "analog way" with your lap top. We are supposed to meet with Frederic Brun ( the founder of Arturia) beginning of september.

I also found in Amsterdam through JC, 2 Eminents 310 and a very rare Eminent 510 (same as the 310 but with longer keyboards). Patrick is restoring them at the Studio and it is going to be very useful for the next tour.

I am also currently working on a new tour concept for 2009.

Last thursday, I had lunch with Mark Teissier du Cros, one of the founder of Record Makers originally with Air,a very good french record label (Sebastien Tellier, Turzi...). We had some good time and I felt that we are on the same wave length on a lot of things. We said that we should meet with Sebastien sometime in September. He also told me about the next Turzi project..

I watched Wall-E, the movie, which I really enjoyed. The animation and the whole concept are great. The sound design is brilliant and certainly makes fifty percent of the emotional aspect of the characters..

I also watched "Let's get lost" the Bruce Weber movie on Chet Baker. I really liked it, even if after all I am not sure about what Bruce Weber wants to say.

But I really liked it because Chet Baker belongs to my personal recollections.

During the last world-war, my mom used to be a great active member in the french Resistance against the nazis.She went into a deportation camp, she escaped, she is been caught 3 times by the Gestapo...and once in jail she met Mimi Ricard, another resistant who became a great friend of her.

After the war, Mimi Ricard opened " Le Chat qui pêche" (the fishing cat), which became
the most influential jazz-club in Paris,welcoming Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, Chet Baker...

Then, when I was a child, I used to go with my mother to visit Mimi at the club during week-ends. During the afternoon I was hanging around in the bar listening to these great musicians, ignoring who they were at the time.

Amongst them, my favourite was Chet Baker and I remember that for my 10th birthday, Chet, sat me on the upright piano and played in front of me, so close, that I can still feel the blow of his trumpet on my chest, writing these lines.

This is why the unique sound of Chet's trumpet is part of the tones of my life...

Have a good time in august..