A Journey between Laughter and Tears

At home my Ashkenazi grandmother would sing Yiddish melodies, which my grandfather (who happened to be Sephardic) enjoyed hearing. This combination of the two cultures was something that affected me in a positive way. Growing up in France I also heard a lot of Jewish music on old recordings, and at music festivals and at synagogue celebrations, from which I absorbed these various influences. In the same way that France is between Spain and Eastern Europe, I am— geographically and genealogically—exactly in the middle of these influences, a synthesis of the two.

My musical life started with the diatonic accordion, a significant traditional French instrument, and later I discovered classical music at the Conservatoire. Between them, my dream developed to build a synthesis between traditional and classical music, using improvisation to blend them together.

Why Transcription?
Transcription creates a new point of view about a piece, and new sounds never heard. In life, we obtain richer knowledge and feeling about a subject when we can see it from as many different angles as possible. A new transcription, a new way to play a piece will give us the opportunity to penetrate even deeper into the composer’s mind, into the essence of the music, and sometimes to discover unexpected treasures and emotions. I would like to discover new pieces, which suit the
double bass fantastically—that open the repertoire and that show a new and unique sound. As a melodic instrument with a deep voice, the double bass is a wonderful medium to sing and express contrasting human moods. This allows the audience to experience an original way of listening to familiar music, as well as an original way to hear the double bass, a solo instrument that is still gaining recognition.

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Download sample programs:  (ENG) (FR)  
Download program notes:  (ENG) (FR)

Videos from a live performance in New York, April 2012
Double bass: Rémy D Yulzari
Piano: Dimitri Dover
Guitar: Nadav Lev
Guest: Clarinet: Balázs Rumy