AROMES COMPLEXES (vinyl)

Description

For his new album, double bassist and composer François Poitou invites the instinctive rapper Pumpkin. An ambitious artistic turn for the artist previously known for "jazz made of strings and refinement." A successful union, with a stunning result.After two critically acclaimed albums combining jazz with chamber music (Funambule, 2017; Le sec et la lune, 2019), François Poitou takes a real change of course with 'Arômes complexes', inviting us to a singular marriage of jazz and rap. This is not a fusion, as we have heard quite a lot of. Here, rapper Pumpkin's flow subtly integrates into the compositions, much like a singer's voice would. François Poitou is familiar with 1990s-2000s hip hop, whose leading figures he admired as a teenager.With 'Arômes complexes', he conceived his compositions by considering 'the rap interventions as solos, just like those of the trumpet and saxophone,' he emphasizes. To meet the challenge, he astutely called upon Pumpkin, who, in addition to her impressive duo with beatmaker Vin'S da Cuero and features with DJ Vadim, Guts, Gaël Faye, Sly Johnson, or China Moses, had worked with a jazz maverick, cornetist and vocalist Médéric Collignon. 'With Pumpkin, I appreciate the rhythmic precision, the quality of the lyrics, and the themes addressed.' For the adopted Nantes resident, 'the exchange was genuine and stimulating.' She adds: 'I love challenges that take me out of my comfort zone. I recognized myself in the demanding nature of François Poitou and the other quartet members.'A graduate of the Arts et Métiers engineering school, he worked as an engineer for a few years. It's perhaps no coincidence that one of his early inspirations was another mathematician, Herbie Hancock. Like the visionary pianist, he decided to abandon his engineering career to devote himself to music. There is poetry in mathematics as there is in music. And there is mathematics in music... In the art of the double bassist, composer, and arranger, we find the precious embrace of rigor and mystery.We thoroughly enjoy the piece 'Arômes complexes,' which uses the metaphor of wine and its bouquet to evoke the complexity of beings. 'The Two Feet series (tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4) provides an opportunity to take stock, to engage in introspection. A simple glance at our feet indicates where we have placed them. This place where we find ourselves says something about our environment; it influences our mood, our state of mind...'His music speaks for itself, without recourse to words. It conveys emotions, sensations, through a cinematic dimension. It cultivates suspense and carries a drama within its core.