Matthieu Chazarenc Evokes Bel Canto, Singing and Celebration

The music has its source in Matthieu Chazarenc's natal southwest of France. The Paris-based drummer has offered his unique blend of jazz, classical and multi-rhythmic versatility on Canto III (Bonsai Music, 2024), linked to his first two albums as a leader—Canto II (Cristal Records, 2021) and Canto I (Label Jazz Family, 2018). "I like to be able to work over time," he said. "Things take time to build."

The colorful jazz emanates from the fruits of encounters with his core of talented players: Christophe Wallemme on double bass, Sylvain Gontard on flugelhorn and Laurent Derache on accordion. Joining the four on this adventure are: Thomas Enhco (piano), Lydia Shelley (cello), Malou Oheix (vocals) and Mohanad Aljaramani (oud). "We can successively guess the south of Spain, the Mediterranean, the Orient, and even the Caribbean," mused the Gascon drummer, regarding the travelogue of sounds.

The bouquet of his roots also brings an unmistakable scent of Paris streets, instruments changing like flashing traffic lights in the city with no stop signs, members of his quartet plus four following each other as if caught in a turnstile at the Metro. Chazarenc explores a soundscape where the acoustic warmth and color of the instruments play the leading role, without relying on effects. The songs are as romantic as the last act of an opera, expansive yet soft as a kitten purring a barely audible refrain.

Listening to the entire album as a piece one will discover short tunes that are also sweeping, like the achingly nostalgic "Rue Marcelle" that recalls the work of '50s French filmmaker Francois Truffaut in classics like L'Enfant Sauvage and the enduring 400 Blows. At times Canto III draws its color from the suburbs of Paris like the latter film's 14-year-old protagonist, Antoine Doinel, wandering with his hands in his pockets, slightly disappointed, only to say to himself finally that it will be better tomorrow. This is the image of the long-ago, melancholic side to Chazarenc's compositions. Conversely, they can be real and gritty, embracing a realism and searching for the deeper meaning in the here and now. Firmly grounded on "Terra Madre," his playing is elegant and subtle, never putting it forward but always serving the subject and his refined melodies.

After repeated playing, there is still a lot to learn and think about from Canto III. The different perspectives between the south of France and Paris manage to leave you speechless and deep in thought with feelings of both sorrow ("Deux Anges") and joy ("Torre del Mar"). The intense emotions in "La Madone" are reminiscent of reading Balzac's Unknown Masterpiece and its exploration of the difficulty in achieving artistic perfection as well as the subjective nature of love and beauty. There are 12 compositions, each one a song without words, in which Chazarenc modestly shares with us the fruit of his thoughts, hopes, doubts and emotions, expressing what in each of them speaks to him.

All About Jazz asked Matthieu Chazarenc to give our readers an inside look at his Canto III album song by song. The only criterion was that he should describe whatsoever he desired.

Inside the songs of Canto III

Les Sauvages: are what so-called "civilized" man has in fact become over time—the unconscious gravedigger of his own home, this now fragile Earth that he has mistreated for decades. "Les Sauvages" is a cry, a distress signal for a planet in danger, a prayer for the reunification of women and men to save our sick planet. The very beginning of the song evokes a feeling of collapse, of destruction. An immense field where the vegetation would have burned, bathed in the smell of ashes. There is an atmosphere of death there. And yet we hear voices in the distance coming closer, voices that prove the survival of life and that nothing is lost. These voices symbolize the rebirth of hope for a better future life. A rebirth.

La Madone: Tension, sadness, misunderstanding, arguments, characters' differences, stress, impossible love, extreme sadness and deception. Well, actually no need to talk about it :-(... very, very bad souvenirs 2023.

Rue Marcelle: A pretty street in the Lilas district just outside of Paris. An oasis of tenderness in the middle of the Parisian grayness. During the summer it looks like The island of Ré surronded by hollyhocks. Through the windows, we hear accordion and some old French songs. An invitation to the village dance. Rue Marcelle is the street of friendship, sharing a simple dinner with a delicious wine, a melody that mixes song, popular dance and the France of yesteryear.

Torre del Mar: Three days trip in the south of Spain, traveling in a bus under 35 [C] degrees outside, looking by the window at the Mediterranean Sea and arriving in a small city called Torre Del Mar in Andalusia near Malaga. The streets are full of people partying, drinking and eating until very late. Fiesta and perfume of fish all around.

Cambio: It's time for a big change in my life. It's time to move on and look very far away in front of me. It's important and urgent to get out of the depressing vibe that have ruined my life for several weeks.

Lagun: It's a melody that I wrote to my very close and very dear friend, the marvelous guitarist Sylvain Luc (who left us in March 2024, after I wrote this song). He was the big brother that I didn't have. He was a genius of improvisation. He was a musicien libre. Originally coming from Basque country, I dedicated to him this melody. (Lagun means "friend"in the Basque language.)

Kamkwamba: This melody came to me while watching The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. This is an African story about a young boy (William Kamkwamba) who saved his family. Beautiful and real.

Terra Madre: That melody is dedicated in a certain way to my childhood, born in the southwest of France, very close to the country—animals, fields, trees, mushrooms, nature all around, and this strong remembering I have when I think about this old time. I miss it very often.

Rond de Paris: is a regular waltz, in the traditional French way, but the time is not a real 3/4. It's broken! So, it's not really round... It's a Parisian round.

Deux Anges: I wrote this melody after watching figure skating. One girl and one boy were making rounds and amazing figures in an extremely soft and gracious way. I've been totally emotionally touched when i saw it in direct. In another way : 2 persons very close left me in 2023. Two angels. This melody was also written thinking about them.

Miharbi: If you read it in the other side (backwards) it says Ibrahim! It's a melody that I dedicated to the amazing Lebanese famous musician Ibrahim Maalouf. I work with him sometimes and appreciate him very much. We've been recording music for the cinema. I wanted to write a melody inspired by the oriental vibe.

Montsoué: is the name of the house I used to live in when I was a child. This melody came to me when I was thinking about those very old moments from the past in the southwest of France. Family, hugs, love, warm vibrations.

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