When a French trombonist brings together a jazz septet with 3 young Cuban percussionists to reinterpret Afro-Cuban sacred music, you get one of the most exciting jazz projects of the year!
Que Vola? “What’s up?” That’s what Cubans like to say when they greet each other.
When in Cuba, French jazz trombonist Fidel Fourneyron delved into the world of the Africa-Cuban cult in which the drums, voices and dances all aim at summoning the gods of Africa to purge the spirits of the living. And he came up with this idea : what if the voices of that sacred music were to be replaced by brass? And the power of ancient ritual to be wrapped in the poetry of John Coltrane?
Fidel and his friend Thibaud Solas assembled a repertoire reflecting the variety of those rhythms and chants and started to compose, superimposing new melodies and arrangements over a sacred Afro-Cuban core. They surrounded themselves with French jazzmen and 3 highly-skilled Cuban percussionists and the magic began to glide : all the music on this debut album has been irradiated by the age-old power of that percussion. Like a ceremonial journey, each of the seven pieces brings the listener closer to the beating heart of this musical encounter. These musicians give off an energy that’s makes it hard not to dance. That’s the strength of this project, and its novelty too.
