No Pain, No Champagne Léon Phal

• 1 Healthy Ground 04:15
• 2 Life in a Wind 04:05
• 3 One Step Further 04:25
• 4 Shaped By Water 03:56
• Total Runtime 16:41

Info zu No Pain, No Champagne

The origin of the album immediately marks its surprising character: the result of passionate discussions with winemaker Stéphane Regnault, who asked him to illustrate four of his cuvées. Recorded at La Frette studio, a rock lair rather than a jazz one (Nick Cave, Arctic Monkeys), "No Pain/No Champagne" represents a departure for Léon Phal.

A spearhead of a futuristic jazz born in the excitement of the 2010s, the Champagne native here abandons the ultra-modernity of previous works to infuse his jazz with a vintage palette inherited from Ahmad Jamal or the Headhunters, a nearly mythical era whose grooves he freely reinterprets. In all of it, he seeks out the oddity, the gimmick that catches the ear and steers jazz in a different direction—here towards a nervy hip-hop with Oddisee, soulful lyricism with Wolfgang Valbrun, or a worn house on “One Step Further.” It's a way to move away from rigid orthodoxy, avoiding confinement to any single style, confronting a certain tradition with the codes of rap, electro, or modern treatments of vintage groove. “Listening to Stéphane describe what each wine represented, their strengths and peculiarities, what made them unique, created a sort of musical universe within me,” explains the author. And so it is: in these complex but balanced assemblages reminiscent of the wines he enhances, the saxophonist plays with traditional jazz modes (Dorian, Mixolydian...) to approach the aromas or colors, seeking his cool and distinguished flavors in unexpected variations. By elevating the vocabulary and passion of the winemaker, he gives birth to a lush yet airy album, supported by a wealth of clear references and proposals.

Written impulsively during discussions with Stéphane Regnault, what was originally a stylistic exercise becomes, under this agile writing, a splendid perspective on the heritage with which the saxophonist grew up. A groove from yesterday in a modern setting, a clear line shaken by the history of music, by feeling, and by technology. And undoubtedly also a bit by the Champagne...

Léon Phal, saxophone
Zacharie Ksyk, trumpet
Gauthier Toux, piano
Arthur Alard, drums
Rémi Bouyssière, double bass
Wolfgang Valbrun, rap

Léon Phal
Very promising saxophonist, Léon Phal is part of this young generation of jazz musicians who have been brought up with classics. He found his own style while paying tribute to them, whether it be Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor or D’Angelo’s “Voodoo”. Surrounded by his lifelong gang, his mastery of the instrument, his incredible sense of melody, the delicacy of his compositions and his devastating groove, all show a bright future for this Franco-Swiss native of Champagne.

Winner of the Nancy Jazz Pulsations and Jazz à Vienne in 2019, Léon Phal has released a second opus, “Dust to Stars”, in April 2021. Our opportunity to explore the music that kept him up at night between house, drum’n’bass and afrobeat. A real dance machine with a soul. His music is a fight between acoustic and electronic, jazz fervour and dancefloor fever, dreamy escapes and meticulous beats, resulting in a symbiosis between contagious energy and rare elegance. His album was very well received by the press and professionals alike, which he presented last summer on prestigious stages such as La Défense Jazz, Jazz à Vienne, Nancy Jazz Pulsations, Jazz à Sète, Jazz in Juan, Cosmo Jazz, Tourcoing Jazz…

In the wait for his next album planned for spring 2023, Léon is currently producing numerous collaborations (Emile Londonien, Louis Matute, Bandit Voyage & Lee Scratch Perry) and preparing the release of new singles.

Leon Phal has been raised between jazz and club culture, in the wake of Herbie Hancock's trilogy from the 80's or Electro producer Carl Craig's Innerzone Orchestra” - Star Wax

Léon Phal's musicians incorporates drum n'bass references straight into their hard bop" - Télérama

Léon Phal, the french rising sax” - Le Monde

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet