Pierre Lavoie

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I love jazz because, as compared to other contemporary forms of music, it blends serious and deep research (intellectual) with the risk of improvisation (physical). But I also listen to classical, folk, soul, funk, rock and pop... And I play them too. The best shows I ever attended... There was a series in the 80's at Paris New Morning – Chet Baker, McCoy Tyner... (sitting 6 feet from the piano). In Marseille a few years back, a Tribute to Miles Davis, with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller is legendary. Another in Marseille, at the Opera : one of the last gig of Ahmad Jamal. The recent Rita Payés in Paris I'm currently writing about certainly left a mark. There is (unbelievably) a good jazz club in this outback where I live, in Haute Provence, South of France, where I discover talents all the time. The first jazz record I got (as a gift) was Porgy and Bess, arranged by Gil Evans, featuring Miles – a "mile" stone. Early ones are Facing You by Keith Jarrett, I Sing the Body Electric by Weather Report, Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles, Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin. All of this very dated as one can see, and not really core jazz numbers. Since then my discotheque are expanded. I have written professionally on many cultural subjects (mostly in French) all my (long) life, music included. But I'm not a music critic, let alone a jazz specialist. I write from the point of view of the amateur. And when I play (keyboards) I dont always know what my fingers are doing – in truth, the very reason of my playing is to let some part of me speak up without being processed by the brain, a story that I listen to and try to learn from.

Most recent and impressive concert: Rita Payés at Jazz à la Villette in Paris. Detailed account coming up.

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