This is the story of a friendship, or rather a successful grafting, between two exquisite talents of French jazz. What brings them together: from piano to double bass, a light touch – and this search for balance between technical virtuosity and hypersensitive playing, not to mention a mischievous delight in hybridizing contemporary jazz, decompartmentalizing it with love, drawing as much from classical heritage as from pop culture. A repertoire emerges: from gospel to folk, from Paris to Ireland, from Lebanon to Cuba, from Aretha Franklin to Nick Drake or Sting and even London Grammar, via Fauré and Schumann, it brings together that songbook we adore without knowing it, those intimate hits that share a "universal canvas" according to Stéphane Kerecki, "thereby offering a vast horizon for improvisation." "We wanted to savor the space between the notes," says Thomas Enhco. "To play with silence."
But the pandemic suddenly suspended time... and prevented the musicians from making music together. Listening to recordings of their sessions from a distance, Stéphane and Thomas perceived a similar magic. And they promised each other that when the world reopened, they would play together again as soon as possible. So, when TSF Jazz offered Thomas a live concert to celebrate the end of lockdown, the program was obvious. "Right away," the pianist recalls, "we felt a special reception." Because the magic persists in public: between the crystalline keyboard and the raw, earthy resonance of the strings, the chemistry works. Transcended by the inventiveness of the dialogue, these celestial melodies captivate: "Everyone, at that moment, felt a similar need for space, calm, and freedom."
After months of lockdown, an inexpressible emotion overtakes the artists as they return to the stage. The album *A Modern Songbook* is imbued with this enchantment. "This music did us good," Stéphane confides.
It also feels good – immensely good – to listen to it.
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