This project was created as part of a project for the Gaume Jazz Festival in 2011, which led to a debut album (‘Trinity’, 2013) and numerous concerts. This enabled the group to create its own identity where each member can freely express themselves. The many concerts were of such intensity that they quite naturally incited Lionel to write a new repertoire, and bring the group to the Gaume Jazz Festival for a second creation in 2015.
For this second opus, the quartet enlisted the creative forces of French saxophonist Guilhem Verger and singer Natashia Kelly. The sax boosts the possible interactions between the musicians and the breadth of the writing, while the singing focuses the energy and makes the music more accessible.
Lionel’s influences are wide and varied: grooves inspired by African music, Steve Coleman or even Greetings From Mercury; and the atmosphere of Bill Evans or Henri Purcell. The interaction between the musicians echoes the Miles Davis Quintet.
“Earthsong” follows in the path of the first release: a balance between tradition and modernism, where the groove is there for the melody and the melody is there for the groove. An album with a broad repertoire that boasts compositions of richness and depth.

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