Sébastien Boisseau, Laurent Blondiau, David Chevallier, Christophe Lavergne - Curiosity (2022) Hi Res

I was 12 years old, in 1981, when a guitarist passing through the house lent me the box set of 33 rpm "Guitar Music from ECM", thus introducing me to the music of Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, Egberto Gismonti , Terje Rypdal, Bill Connors and Mick Goodrick.

This box changed my life, since it shaped my musical tastes for a long time, and my guitar practice, then under construction.

A few years later, François Jeanneau, director of ONJ 86, placed an order for a work with my father. I accompanied it to its creation and then met the guest soloist: trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, also a pillar of the ECM label.

New shock, and new reference, which I have never denied since.

Much later, I had the chance to participate in various projects with the wonderful pianist John Taylor, Kenny's traveling companion, and I had the very clear feeling of evolving on familiar territory, almost as if I was returning to the fold. I have since multiplied my musical adventures, often mixing jazz with other music, such as baroque, pop, contemporary music, even electro.

With Curiosity, I want to rediscover the feeling experienced alongside John, this return to the sources to which each of us can aspire, at some point in our lives. I chose to make this trip alongside my faithful Sébastien Boisseau and Christophe Lavergne, with whom I have formed a trio since 2013.

I also wanted to change the sound of the band by adding a wind instrument, and my choice fell on the Belgian trumpeter Laurent Blondiau because he carries within him an exact synthesis of what I was looking for, combining lyricism and great freedom in the practice of improvisation.