Special report

Blue Note festival

The legendary label celebrates its artists

Paris 

07/04/2005 - 

Blue Note is an venerable record label with a lot of young talent. Over the past sixty-five years, it has put out a lot of great records. Today, Blue Note organises its own festival as well, the second of which was held in Paris from 5-18 April. RFI Musique takes a closer look at the performers and interviews Marc Moulin.

"Norah Jones's success has had incredible effect and a lot of other artists want to be on the label now, particularly since Blue Note has such a long history. The name means a lot for musicians, but they also need to know that the way we work and our structure are different fromwhat you find in the pop world.". Blue Note very much remains a jazz label, and above all a quality label. Bruce Lundvall, honoured with the Midem Personality of the Year award in January 2005, is very much aware of these differences. He has led the label for twenty years and has given new meaning to the famous old slogan "The Finest In Jazz Since 1939", inspiring a new spirit that is both adventurous and open to the new. "It's taken a little while, but Blue Note artists now represent everything that is the best in this type of music." And when you take a look at the names in the Blue Note's current stable, it is hard to disagree: Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Jason Moran, Pat Martino, Greg Osby, Martin Medeski & Wood, Chucho Valdès, Cassandra Wilson, Patricia Barber, Diane Reeves... and that's without even mentioning the huge number of classics already recorded by the label for prosperity. And add to that crossover artists like Van Morrisson, Anita Baker, Al Green or Norah Jones... the list is endless.

France has also had its role to play in this success story. A number of top French artists record for the label, including Erik Truffaz, Stefano Di Battista, St Germain (who are gearing up for a comeback) and Michel Legrand who is preparing an album this autumn in homage to Claude Nougaro. An eclectic bunch, but the common thread for all these artists is a real love for jazz. The program for the second Blue Note festival will be "more ambitious and perhaps less obvious than last year, " says Nicolas Pflug, head of Blue Note France. "Truffaz, Stefano di Battista and Jason Moran will be there,  as will Terence Blanchard and Marc Moulin, who rarely perform live these days... Chucho Valdes performing with Bebo and Michel Legrand at the Cirque d'Hiver will obviously be one of the highlights." Appearing for the first time will be the Californian singer Brisa Roché, who moved to Paris a few years ago and has just recorded an album. There will also be the Sardinian trumpet player Paolo Fresu, who has also recently signed to Blue Note.

"We'll also be doing a special theme night on Jazz and the Cinema, at the Drugstore Publicis, with screenings of rare films. And on Sunday, April 10, we'll also be paying homage to Claude Nougaro at the Cirque d'Hiver with performances from a string of jazz and French chanson greats, including M, Zazie, Bénabar, Mauranne, Sanseverino, Art Mengo, Aldo Romano and David Linx. All profits from this evening will go to the National Cancer Institute run by Professor David Khayat." The list of headliners reflects the health of Blue Note but also of the jazz  and concert scene in general, despite gloomy market conditions. "I'm fairly optimistic for the future, says Nicolas Pflug. "There's a real groundswell of new talents, and jazz artists are increasingly confident and also  open to other musical genres.  Above all, audiences have got younger, which means that jazz is increasingly fashionable." For Bruce Lundvall, the festival (the only one to be directly associated with a label) performs an important role for Blue Note: "It allows us to get all the Blue Note representatives from across the world together in one place. It's a unique rendezvous, both artistically and for the internal business of our company. In 2006, we may do the same in Amsterdam, or in London. In fact, it will be a moving festival in the tradition of the great summer rock festivals in the United States."

---

Interview with Marc Moulin :

"Always starting again"

Jazz pianist, film score composer, pop producer and occasional humorist, Brussels-born Marc Moulin has had an eclectic career. And he has been at it for over 35 years, mixing avant garde jazz fusion with electro minimalism. In 2001, the co-founder of Telex made his successful comeback on Blue Note with Top Secret, followed three years later by the electronica influenced Entertainment. He has recently re-released Sam’ Suffy, a legendary progressive soul album initially released in 1975 on Columbia. This tireless Belgian is currently working on two plays, "a serious, commissioned work and a comedy". A new album is also out next September comprising all new tracks, half from Telex, twenty years after their last album.

Where does Blue Note figure in the subconscious of musicians? And where does the label fit in to today's poorly-performing record market?

It's complicated. In marketing terms, Blue Note has a strong brand image, mostly because of the associations with the name. The other prestigious mid-size jazz labels have (or had) less magical-sounding names: Prestige, Riverside, Contemporary, Impulse – they are all right but they're not Blue Note. Apart from that, the two founders (Alfred Lion and Francis Wolf) were able to express their fantasies, their ideals, their aesthetic. They were very good at developing "second tier" musicians, which are very important in jazz (people like Grant Green, Jimmy Smith and other organists, The Three Sounds, Stanley Turrentine or Kenny Dorham). And then there was the Rudy Van Gelder sound, and of course Reid Miles's cover designs.

How do you see the current diversity in jazz? And how did you and others anticipate it in the seventies?

I think jazz is a question of combining different elements, and above all combining its different roles: as an art, a skill, an entertainment. My main contribution was in the entertainment field – which doesn't exclude experimentation, on the contrary – and reaching a general, non-specialist audience. My experience is about that kind of audience, as much as it is about my music.

How would you define yourself in a way which encompasses your eclecticism?

I'm always starting again. I don't build up from a base of achievements, I refuse to think in terms of a career. Sometimes, I've got involved in non-musical activities, in order to be able to approach things from a fresh perspective. Operating in different media both intrigues and disconcerts, because we like things that can be defined with a simple phrase. But that's what I do – I work in radio, theatre, the press and in music.

Marc Moulin Entertainment (Blue Note) 2004
Marc Moulin Sam' Suffy - 30th anniversary Edition (Blue Note) 2005

 

Jacques  Denis

Translation : Hugo  Wilcken