John Hadfield's Paris Quartet

Description

This album aims to explore the experience of foreigners in France. I consider myself part of a long lineage of American artists who moved to Paris to escape the United States, a country that does not support its creators. Unlike my illustrious predecessors, I arrived in France during a pandemic that paralyzed the entire Parisian art scene. Paradoxically, the cancellation of shows allowed me to collaborate more easily with local artists and focus on composition. Rooted in the values and approaches of jazz, this album offers a musical view of Paris in the era of Covid-19. The direction of the ensemble, the concept, and the instrumentation are electronic and contemporary, drawing on musical languages that do not fit within the jazz tradition, notably incorporating elements of South Indian Carnatic music and North African music. While French jazz musicians tend to mystify the American music scene, particularly that of New York, I take the opposite approach: my music celebrates the blend of cultures that makes Paris a musical hub.