Firmly rooted in all Mediterranean cultures, the original music by violinist Guillaume Dettmar is first and foremost a testament to his fierce desire to bring together several aesthetic universes and fuse them into one coherent whole. Carried along by culturally diverse artists eager to mix their passions and their different backgrounds, this project is far from being naïve, rather a perhaps necessary reminder that if this music, which is intended for all kinds of jazzification and the messiest of improvisations, cannot change the world any more than it can soften mores, then it can indeed allow for, at the very least, raising healthy awareness. This is what is essential.
It was on the day after one of the (too) many bloody attacks in the Middle East that the violinist Guillaume Dettmar decided, in the way he knew best, to bear witness to the horror of the situation and express this fragile hope for peace so deeply shared by all human beings of good will. A way for warding off the curse! It was by taking this original repertoire back from off the shelf during an impromptu meeting, one both human and musical in a way only musicians know how, that the “United Colors of the Mediterranean” was managed to come to light and really take flight.
From rehearsals in residence – in Chamonix, at André Manoukian‘s – concerts at festivals- Karellis, Carpentras, etc. – by way of the Saturday jazz sessions at Ô Jazz, the music has had it easy when it comes to fine-tuning itself, especially since being lucky enough to engage the ever-so swinging “services” of the world jazz luminary who came to settle down with his family in Orleans: the percussionist (marimba / vibraphone / drums) Jason Marsalis, the last in the family of famous musicians from New Orleans.
