Toufic Farroukh will unveil his new album “Untamed Elegance” on its release March 24, 2023 on Scale Art & Culture / Baco Distrib. This new work will be presented live on stage on Thursday April 6, 2023 at Studio de L’Ermitage (Paris).
« Toufic Farroukh’s music is multi-faceted, nourished by jazz, Arabic, Brazilian, Balkan or even classical influences. Carefully and lovingly constructed, Untamed Elegance is a record that, not without modesty, reveals the discreet and persistent beauties of a great journey outside of time and fashion. »
Denis Desassis
Toufic Farroukh (Saxophones, Percussion) surrounded himself with:
Leandro Aconcha : Acoustic Piano & Keyboards, Jean-Luc Lehr : El. Bass (Except 3, 5, 7 & 8), Xavier Rogé : Drums, Benachir Boukhatem : Violin, Justina Zajancauskaite : Violin, Lilla Peron : Viola, Sary Khalifé : Cello, Sylvain Gontard : Trumpet & Flugelhorn, Paco Andreo : Valve Trombone, Fanny Laignelot : Flute & Piccolo, Julien Chabod : Clarinet.
The artist also invited to participate to this album:
Roberto Garcia -Vocal (3) Nelson Veras – Acoustic Guitar (3 & 11) Marc Buronfosse – Double Bass (3, 5, 7 & 8) Sophie Lascombes- Mayrand – Oboe & English Horn (1) Cedric Bonnet – French Horn (1) Ali Khatib – Req & Bendir (2, 3 & 5) Walid Baba Nasser – Darbouka & Bendir (2, 3 & 5)
Presentation
Five years have passed since the publication of Villes invisibles, Toufic Farroukh’s last opus, which celebrated the art of conversation through a dialogue inhabited by the dream of women and men living in harmony in cities that are finally peaceful. But if the pulse of music beats at its own pace, life sometimes imposes its own tempo and can lead creators to take the wrong path. Indeed, to understand the story of Untamed Elegance – whose title reflects an admiration for Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – we must go back to 2017, when Toufic Farroukh accepted to honor a commission by writing “À la frontière de…”. A fifty-minute suite for symphony orchestra and jazz quartet, co-arranged by the pianist Leandro Aconcha. This program, which was performed only once in Beirut in 2018 with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toufic Farroukh Quartet, conducted by Alexandre Piquion, is the source of what would come later. This is a new project with a smaller ensemble, which took more than three years to conceive, write and record. This project, subject to the constraints of a worldwide pandemic, was driven by a deep desire to serve the music. (…)
Denis Desassis
