PIERRE DIAZ .saxophone Delphine Chomel .violin, vocal Marion Diaques .alto, vocal Claire Menguy .Cello
description We have Pierre Diaz and his desire to blend his saxophone with the strings and voices of the Zephyr Trio to thank for this creation. In 2007 he suggested that he and the musicians of the Trio get together to play a mixture of his own compositions and theirs.
The resulting tones and colours that emerge here are unique – warm, incisive, joyful, gentle and energetic all at once. The key words here are composition and improvisation, style and surprises for both ear and eye…
Mediterranean-type music redolent of the Spanish Civil War.
After studying at the Conservatoires of Beziers and Montpellier, then an experience playing light music, Pierre Diaz decided to go over to improvised music, jazz, spontaneous creations that could include dance, the plastic arts, dramatic art…
His experience as a saxophonist for the theatre has taken him not only across France but also to international destinations such as Vietnam, Eastern Europe, New York, Montreal… He has played with a wide variety of musicians including Dave Liebman, Ralph Alessi, Lonnie Plaxico, Lionel Cordew, the Moscow Soloists, Reggly’s, the Montpellier Philharmonic and French jazz and improvised music groups.
The Zephyr Trio’s music uses a blend of strings and vocals to evoke an entirely original musical universe, right at the limits of Western classical music, even bordering on world music. Each musician of this all-female trio has a widely varying musical background and culture, but they have all had classical training; world music and improvisation have been their “soulfood”.
Their repertoire consists of entirely original compositions they write amongst themselves, with other cultures as their main source of inspiration. And although we discern their classical European origins, we’re also introduced to the staccato rhythms of Eastern Europe, the languid tempo of the tango, the heady insistence of repetitive music, oriental modal music…
The Trio was created in Montpellier in 2000 after a real “love at first sight” musical idea and the firm friendship it induced. Since then they have played in France and abroad and gained themselves a loyal and varied public.
Recordings : on September 4-5th, 2008 / November 5-6th, 2009.
Mixed on May 28th, 2010.
Recorded and mixed by Gérard de Haro in Studios La Buissonne.
Mastering La Buissonne by Nicolas Baillard.
Produced by Marc Thouvenot, Gérard de Haro and RJAL for La Buissonne.
Graphics : Philippe Ghielmetti (illusions).