Shama

Description

'The New Jazz Scene'... it's being talked about more and more. Why is 'jazz' becoming cool again? How is it attracting a younger and more curious audience? Everywhere, clubs and festivals are embracing a musical movement that absorbs without blinders the surrounding musical currents and could be the most beautiful connection between the promise of a party and the unique sensation of seeing artists perform and improvise music together, in constant interaction with the present moment. But 'the New Jazz Scene', while continuously regenerating across generations and geography, is not so new; it has existed for over 50 years. And it is within this long, rich, and constantly innovative movement, philosophically indestructible, that Ishkero carves its path. For while the members of the band are under thirty and are releasing their first album SHAMA today, we are indeed talking about a group of veterans. It was around the age of 19 that the five members of the group came together for the first time. Nearly 10 years later, the lineup is exactly the same, and the jokes during rehearsals remain fresh. From the very beginning, each member has had a hunger to fully explore the techniques and means of expression of their own instrument. Together, there is a need to play music as open as the shelves of their respective record collections, between great legends and explorers of crossover jazz, epic rock, and world music. And together, there is the obvious urgency to break free from these influences and offer an energy of the present moment, their own. An expansive, pressing, sunny, and happy energy that makes you want to enjoy together. ISHKERO has been infusing itself since its creation and at its own pace into all the places that create today's vibration. They hang out in the studios of Krispy Records, frequent the clubs and jams of the capital, feel at home at the Petit Halle in Paris, and have been part of the walls since the creation of Gare/Le Gore, one of the epicenters of the new generation. The musicians tour with Erik Truffaz, Guillaume Perret, and collaborate in all directions. The group releases an EP on the precious label Chuwanaga, appears on compilations tracing the vitality of the scene, the Past & Future of Jazz à Vienne and Heavenly Sweetness, and the Groove Dingueries of BMM Records. Finally, they win the national Jazz à Vienne competition and the 2023 selection of Jazz Migrations. More than the possibility of yet another 'new spearhead of the French jazz scene', it is this long process that emerges with the discovery of SHAMA. The music is carried collectively, identities fade except for a unique moment of bravery determined by each musician, like a series of portraits that unfolds the album. It is the accomplished record of a group of friends who have matured together over a decade in constant excitement. The compositions are refined, chiseled, and elegant. However, they all serve as a canvas for an undeniable desire to demonstrate their collective ability to break boundaries. The members of Ishkero have found the recipe that drives them to push the limits always together and always further. After all these years, they give the impression that this is just the beginning. In the age of Tinder, isn't that beautiful?