Night Trippin'

Description

“They call me Dr. John, the night traveler.” Both great admirers of the Louisiana pianist/singer, Matthis Pascaud and Hugh Coltman decided to explore the latter’s sixties period with this new album Night Trippin’, a sultry blend bringing together New Orleans folklore, the band’s electric vibe, and Hugh’s smooth voice. In this dirty and mystical New Orleans, Dr. John was the Great Zombie, come from a time when the streets did not reek of concrete, when a legendary studio was not mistaken for a laundromat. Matthis Pascaud and Hugh Coltman are the latest victims - after Mick Jagger, the Beastie Boys, Beck and Dan Auerbach - of the sorcerer with the hoarse voice and elastic tongue, usually accompanied by a naked dancer and a guy who slit chickens’ throats on stage before drinking their blood! There, in a kitchen, around a big stack of records, Matthis and Hugh stopped on Babylon and Gris-Gris, founding acts of the Dr. John legend. Three years after the doctor put away his skulls and feathered costumes, how do you take up the torch? The answer is in Night Trippin'. More than a tribute, a procession. Night Trippin' has swagger. From afar, you’ll say it is rock, beastly and stripped down. Up close, you’ll encounter the bottleneck of an old Southern bluesman, the opiate dreams of a Jimi Hendrix, the flames of PJ Harvey or The Kills, and wide shots à la Ry Cooder. When the last notes of “Guilded Splinters” fade away, you tell yourself that up there, Mac must have appreciated it. Matthis Pascaud, Hugh Coltman and their troupe have cracked the door open. Let them guide you along the bayou, let the powder and the spells do the talking... Then you may end up like them: mystified and completely won over. A Brit who became Parisian by adoption, Hugh Coltman is a true lover of jazz, rock and blues. A former member of The Hoax and Heez Bus, he signed with Sony Masterworks and followed up with an elegant crooner tribute in Shadows: Songs of Nat King Cole (2015), followed by Who’s Happy (2018) inspired by the big band atmosphere of New Orleans, two albums that have accumulated more than 15 million streams on streaming platforms and more than 20,000 physical sales. That same year, he won the Victoire du Jazz in the “Vocal Artist” category. At once bold, volcanic and contemporary. His guitar playing brings together his two main influences: rock for its sonic dimension and jazz for improvisation. His music, described as “progressive jazz,” breaks stylistic boundaries. Heard alongside many artists including Ellinoa, saxophonist Sophie Alour or singer Ayo, he has also performed abroad at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, Centro Culturale Candiani in Italy, Womad Festival in England, and at La Clef in France with singer Moonlight Benjamin.