Célestine in the clouds
On the occasion of the carte blanche offered by the Jazzdor festival in June 2024 in Berlin, Sophie Bernado, singer and bassoonist, proposes a collaboration with Joachim Florent, double bassist and Marie-Pascale Dubé, vocalist with whom Sophie has previously collaborated. They invite the vibraphonist Taiko Saito in this new creation.
An invitation to travel is drawn in the choice of the instrumentarium. The group, like a colorist, explores the confines of possibilities through the multiple palettes of textures that the instrumentation offers.
Diving between contemporary reveries and world music, diving into the exploration of these nuances ultimately rarely encountered on the path of improvisation.
not to mention the very diverse influences of each member of the group, the speech is tinged sometimes with the liberated character of improvisation sometimes with themes with classical influences from composers of the early 21st century.
Let us not forget that each instrument here is a unique opportunity, a springboard for the flight of the mind and therefore of the imagination.
MARIE-PASCALE DUBÉ
actress and director. With a career and its deviations. I was born in Montreal and grew up in Quebec where I studied cinema and directing. I arrived in France at the end of my studies in 2009 where I started working as an editor and assistant director for six years, notably for Arte and the director Stan Neumann.
Editing taught me a lot about directing. It is important for me to feed my curiosities and to continue to do more than one thing, everything communicates. At the same time, I directed my first feature-length documentary for 7 years, "Rouge Gorge", which tells my story related to Inuit throat singing. I also resumed theater training for a few years at the same time as my job as chief editor. My father is an actor, was a drama teacher for children all his life, it has also always been part of mine. Let's say that acting is my first love... and I'm going back to it! My initiation into Inuit throat singing still colors my artistic journey today. A play for young audiences "Un flocon dans ma gorge" was written and directed by Constance Larrieu (a production of the CDN of Sartrouville) inspired by my story, in which I play all the roles. The only actress on a stage that I share with the musician David Bichindaritz. We performed this piece for Odyssées en Yvelines in 2020 and we will have to resume a tour from mid-March 2021 if health conditions allow it. I also play the title role, which I share with Lorry Hardel and Seydoux Boro, in Laëtitia Guédon's next piece "Penthésilé.e.s / Amazonomachie", a creation for the in d'Avignon 2021.
TAIKO SAITO
is one of the most versatile marimba and vibraphone players in Germany. She enchants her audiences with her unique playing style and special sound aesthetics. She has received several awards in jazz as well as classical music.
She has toured worldwide and released albums as (co-)leader of KOKO with Niko Meinhold (p), Futari with Satoko Fujii (p), Berlin Mallet Group with David Friedman, Julius Heise, Raphael Meinhart and Hauke Renken, Trio SAN with Satoko. Fujii and Yuko Oshima (dr), and kokotob with Niko Meinhold and reed player Tobias Schirmer (bcl).
Born in Sapporo/Japan and has lived in Berlin since 1998. She studied with marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe and studied classical marimba and percussion at the Toho School of Music. In 1997 she began improvising and writing music and moved to Berlin, where she studied vibraphone and composition with David Friedman at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
She has worked with Keiko Abe, Sofia Gubaidulina, Mary Halverson, David Friedman, Satoko Fujii, Herbert Fritsch, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Takehito Koganezawa, Silke Eberhard, Achim Kaufmann, Heinrich Köbberling and others.
As a composer, she won the originality award at the 2004 International Marimba Competition for "Landscape IV". In 2008, she wrote "Cache-cache pour 9 percussionnistes", commissioned by the percussion ensemble "coup de baguette".
She has also appeared on numerous recordings ranging from classical, jazz and improvised music to hip-hop music, including an ECM recording with Trickster Orchestra, a world premiere recording of Sofia Gubaidulina's "So sei es" with Nurit Stark Ensemble on BIS records and a film of Hitomi Kamanaka's "Ashes to Honey" with Shing02.
She is a member of the Trickster Orchestra, the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, Silke Eberhards' Potsa Lotsa XL and the Hannes Zerbe Jazz Orchestra.
JOACHIM FLORENT
was born in 1979 in Schaerbeek – Belgium. An artist with multiple interests, Joachim studiedat the ENM in Villeurbanne alongside scientific studies, then at the CNSM in Paris in the jazz department. A unique musician, he is the bassist of the Jean Louis trio with Aymeric Avice and Francesco Pastacaldi.
He also plays in the Imperial quartet and the Imperial company. He founded with Benjamin Flament the ensembles MetaL-O-PHoNe and Radiation10, driving forces of the collective
coax. His taste for adventure and renewal leads him to collaborate with Finnish musicians
such as Aki Rissanen, Mandingo in the Imperial Pulsar or the contemporary music of the Bela quartet. Recently settled in Nantes, Joachim works there in particular
alongside the singer Maud Trutet.
In 2007, he won the 1st prize for instrumentalist at the Defense competition, and also the 2 first prizes for group (Radiation10 and Jean Louis). Whether he plays completely acoustic or
transcends the double bass through amplification, he is regularly invited to perform solo
(Paris Bass 2008, Le Mans Europa Jazz 2012) and participates with the garden trio in the music for the
film by Coline Serreau – local solutions for a global disorder.
An influential personality of the Coax collective, a driving member of several groups that count on the
new French scene (Radiation 10, Jean-Louis, Imperial Quartet, Metal O Phone...), Joachim
Florent is also a formidable double bass player and bass player. Technical virtuosity, powerful drive, formidable energy and great musical curiosity allow him to explore with ease and relevance very different musical universes...