Waiting to get back on scene, l’artist has just published his “simple method in 17 songs to start the guitar” elaborated with his sidekick Jérôme Ciosi, while the new edition of Frenchy give a second wind to his cover album. Between two oxen with his balanin friends, meeting with a lover of the Corsica and you Gypsy jazz.
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Your Frenchy album was a great success, certified gold just two months after its release last summer. But the health crisis did not allow you to start a tour abroad as planned …
The basic idea, with my manager, was to release an album essentially composed of covers of internationally known French song standards, such as for example My way which remains the most exported title, and to interpret them in pop and jazzy versions. With my musicians, we wanted to celebrate this France which knows how to write beautiful songs and show the importance of the French touch in this area. It was really unpretentious.
In fact, it was more of a pretext to consider a tour abroad and more particularly in the United States, to convince my guitarist Rocky Gresset to leave with us for a few months and to put forward this very particular style of gypsy guitar. Atlantic. In addition, lots of great artists participated in the record like Iggy Pop or Diana Krall… And they were ready to join us on stage during the tour! But the Covid has been there and has turned everything upside down …
It’s a shame because Frenchy was the occasion of great encounters like the one with Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. With him, I found myself discussing music and drinking shots at the counter of a hotel in Los Angeles for hours.
With the new edition of Frenchy, you give a second life to the album …
Failing to be able to defend the record on stage, we did our best to promote it via social media. And to relaunch it, we had the idea to record bonus titles. In the end, it’s almost a double album. We could have even recorded another record.
I had fun inviting essential artists like Eddy Mitchell with whom I perform The last session. A magic song, one of the first songs that marked me in my life. And then Eddy, he’s still one of the gang of old scoundrels, it would have been a shame not to invite him. Jane Birkin blew me away with the way she placed her voice on These little things. Clara Luciani has a tone of voice that combines delicacy and strength. Daho is a singer of great sensitivity, all in subtlety. Also very proud of the duet with Philippe Katerine, an artist I admire. And I had a great time recording The little garden with my father in Balagne.
Over the years, you seem more and more complicit with your father …
It is a very strong love between us. But at the same time, a dialogue without words… Curiously, we are seen more and more together in the press, in TV or radio broadcasts… I think that it can lead to a duet project on stage. A tour together is possible, that would be great.
You have just published a 60-page notebook, “The simple method in 17 French songs to start the guitar. »What motivated this project?
This is an idea we had with my old friend Jérôme Ciosi. I really wanted to work with him on a common project outside of shows. We noticed that the scores available on the internet were often riddled with errors with poorly placed chords in relation to the lyrics of the songs. So, we just highlighted the lyrics to match them with the chords so that people know where to place their voice.
It is also a fun notebook with lots of tips from our 30 years of experience on the guitar. We can say that this is a method of learning to sing easily on pieces played on the guitar. It begins with fairly easy titles, in three chords, and as we go, we get in trouble. With several levels of learning. at Following the success of my online courses, the idea was also to include the titles, in this case 17 classics of French song, that I had taken up on Facebook during the confinements so that people could find them easily .
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You spend a lot of time in Balagne. Does this mean that you no longer like Paris as one of your songs suggested?
I would say above all that I love Corsica and that I want to live here comfortably. And also to move as soon as I can to perform abroad. Get away from urban music, see the country. It’s not that I don’t like Paris anymore, but here we have such a different quality of life, especially in winter.
The music seems to have helped to create a link between you and Corsica …
For me, music is above all the guitar. And the guitar is a ubiquitous instrument on the island. Here, there is a relationship to the melody, to the song, which is essential. This is also why I feel good there. Singing, landscapes, nature… Everything makes you want to listen to Vivaldi rather than urban music. I always remember my first festivals in Patrimonio, great moments in an idyllic setting.
And then it fills me with happiness when I see young local musicians, like the Torracinta brothers, playing manouche with so much talent. Listening to Fanou Torracinta, performing the Ajaccio waltz that I played myself when I was younger in St-Florent, it makes me feel a lot of emotions. I was lucky enough to follow Antoine Ciosi’s L’ultimu giru during his shows in Bastia, Ajaccio and Paris. For the concerts in Ajaccio and Bastia, I was hiding in a corner of the bar set up on the stage and I was serving blows… (Laughter). Recently, Ugo Casalonga, who is no longer featured, gave me my jazz and classical guitars.
There is also Mathieu Graziani who settled as a luthier in L’île-Rousse and who is very talented. I rub shoulders with a lot of musicians like Jean-Thomas Mallory, Tao By… And many others that I appreciate and with whom I share good times away from the bustle of Paris.
Your projects ?
My passion remains music. It’s when I play songs that I feel the best. I try to improve on the guitar.
My next record will be an album of creations. More in tune with the times but while remaining true to myself, this is the challenge I have set for myself.
Last year, I made the soundtrack of the film Beautiful girl shot in Corsica. An experience that made me want to continue with other film music.
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