Abrazo Vincent Peirani & Emile Parisien

• 1 The Crave 04:36
• 2 Temptation 06:07
• 3 Fuga y Misterio 03:34
• 4 Between T's 02:35
• 5 Deus Xango 05:25
• 6 Memento 05:40
• 7 A Bebernos los Vientos 06:39
• 8 Nouchka 09:18
• 9 F.T. 02:40
• 10 Army Dreamers 05:39
• Total Runtime 52:13

Info for Abrazo

Abrazo. Embrace. A close dance perhaps, but also with the hint of a friendly tussle. Could there be a more fitting metaphor for the duo of accordionist Vincent Peirani and soprano saxophonist Émile Parisien? "It's like a marriage," says Peirani. "In the beginning everything’s just great, wonderful, paradise. But of course, after a while, it also becomes challenging, which is quite normal. "Right now, we're just massively happy playing together." There can be very few musicians who have got to know each other as well as Peirani and Parisien have. They have clocked up well over 1000 concerts together in the past decade, of which more than 600 have been as a duo. They first met in 2012 as members of drummer Daniel Humair’s quartet, and their very first appearance as a duo was an impromptu late-night club set while touring in Korea. "Une ca-ta-strophe! An unmitigated disaster"... Peirani still remembers it vividly. But shortly later, with the benefit of no jet-lag, and also having done some proper preparation, things did fall properly into place at a festival in France, and one of the outstanding line-ups in European jazz was born. In 2014 their first duo album "Belle Epoque" was released on ACT. From then on they started touring, and were soon playing at the leading clubs and festivals in France and Germany and setting off all over the world – to Asia, Latin America, the USA, Canada and throughout Europe. And also appearing in major classical venues such as the Philharmonie halls in Berlin, Hamburg, Essen and the Musikverein in Vienna. And it was not long before international recognition became established, through prizes such as the Echo Jazz, Les Victoires du Jazz, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and numerous awards and ‘best-of’ lists from leading jazz magazines.

"Belle Époque", their 2014 debut album as a duo, was a tribute to soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, one of the biggest stars of early jazz in the 1920s and a wonderfully melodic player. Peirani and Parisien have left it nearly six years to produce the follow-up. "Abrazo" is also a salute, this time not to a person but to an art form: to the tango with all its elegance, sadness and rhythmic and melodic power. And as in their debut as a duo, Peirani and Parisien do not reproduce the original repertoire, they prefer to play WITH it.

Furthermore composers of South American imprint such as Astor Piazzolla, Tomás Gubitsch or Xavier Cugat form only a part of the repertoire they have developed. Parisien’s and Peirani's own pieces have a way of moving in the spirit of tango. That is certainly the case for their arrangement of "Army Dreamers" by Kate Bush, an artist for whom Peirani has a profound admiration. The opening track "The Crave" by US-American pianist/ bandleader Jelly Roll Morton – one of the most influential jazz musicians of the early 20th century – establishes a surprising connection to the previous album. It seems as if "Abrazo" and "Belle Époque" are two parts of a suite, and indeed if one listens to albums together, the sense that they have interconnecting common threads is very strong indeed.

What unites all of these disparate elements is the particuarly deep affinity between Peirani and Parisien. One can hear at any moment the astonishingly sensitive way they are able to interact. And another common feature which they have between them is that both stand out currently as among the most important innovators on their instruments anywhere. In a truly magical way, they seem to have a sixth sense which makes everything fall into place. And it seems as if they can source their ingredients just about anywhere: whether it’s traditional or modern jazz, free avant-garde, classical, folklore, rock, electronic, new or old music, they have an irrepressible hunger for the new, and an unquenchable appetite for adventure. This boundless curiosity, this urge to grow together, this imperative to climb ever new levels… these are the elements that meld the duo Peirani & Parisien together and that make them such a unique phenomenon.

Vincent Peirani, accordion
Emile Parisien, soprano saxophone

Recorded by Boris Darley at Studio Besco, December 19 – 22, 2019
Assisted by Léo Aubry & Loïc Colin
Mixed by Boris Darley, Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien at Studio Holy Oak
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Vincent Peirani, Emile Parisien

Vincent Peirani
The French accordionist, vocalist and composer Vincent Peirani was born in Nice on 24.4.1980. He started playing the accordion at the age of eleven. One year later he began taking lessons in classical music for clarinet and accordion at the "Conservatoire National de Région" in Nice, and it didn't take long for his gift to start showing.

Between 1994 and 1998, as a teenager, he won numerous international awards and competitions for classical accordion, including the Klingenthaler Accordion Competition (Germany), the award of the accordion festival in Castelfidardo (Italy), the "Trophée Mondial at Cassino" (Italy) and the international "Reinach" accordion competition (Switzerland). The highlight of these accolades was the first place in the competition for classical accordion at the "Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique" in Paris in 1996. These early successes quickly enabled Vincent Peirani to appear at festivals all around Europe (Bayreuth, Salzburg, Vienna, Rome, Stockholm).

At 16 he discovered jazz – in particular the music of Bill Evans and the French jazz-rock band "Sixun" – and in 2001 he began his formal studies of jazz at the "Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique" in Paris. Initially he garnered more scepticism than anything else with his instrument, the accordion, and his classical background, but it didn't take long before he won the critics over with a whole new way of looking at the accordion, and made himself a name in France's jazz scene as well. His big breakthrough was coming first at the "La Défense Jazz Competition" in 2003. This victory opened the doors for him to work with the crème-de-la-crème of the French jazz scene. Peirani then decided to quit his jazz studies to have more time to play, and soon he was working with musicians the calibre of Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, the Renaud Garcia Fons Quintett, Sylvain Luc, Louis Sclavis and Vincent Courtois. His collaborations with especially Michel Portal and Daniel Humair persist to this day.

During this time he has also pursued many of his own projects, drawing from the most varied of genres – from jazz, chanson and world music to classic and on through to heavy rock. Among his biggest projects are the band "Mésolex", the duo with the saxophonist Vincent Lê Quang, the quintett "Living Being" and the collaboration with the French-Indonesian vocalist Serena Fisseau (project: "Sejalan"). He has recorded numerous albums with these line-ups, including "Mésolex" (2008), "Gunung Sebatu" (2009) and "EST" (2010).

Since 2011, Vincent Peirani has played regularly in a quartet fronted by the Korean vocalist Youn Sun Nah. In doing so he made the acquaintance of the Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius and ACT boss Siggi Loch. Peirani played on the Ulf Wakenius record "Vagabond" (ACT 9523-2), which came out in February 2012. A little later the two went on tour together as a duo, and everywhere they played, Vincent Peirani was a sensation.

On the Youn Sun Nah album "Lento" (ACT 9030-2, April 2013) Vincent Peirani appeared as sideman. His ACT debut as leader, "Thrill Box" (ACT 9542-2), was released in May 2013. All his musical experience will flow into this lyrical album, which brings together the diverse sound potentialities of the accordion with the accompaniment of Michael Wollny (piano), Michel Benita (double bass) and Michel Portal and Emile Parisienne as guest soloists.

"What this Nice-born Parisian teases out of his accordion is something the likes of which world has never heard before. The great French accordion tradition, from Galliano to Matinier, shines through, but he takes it further with a new, characteristic expressiveness. It is a future virtuoso that is playing here!" says the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Emile Parisien
The saxophonist Emile Parisien, born in 1982, enrolls in Marciac college in 1993, where he enjoys a musical formation with experienced musicians such as Pierre Boussaguet, Guy Laffitte, and Tonton Salut.

Over these years, he has the opportunity to work with several leading figures of jazz: Wynton Marsalis, Chris Mc Bride, Johnny Griffin, or Bobby Hutcherson, who give him the opportunity to play with them on the Marciac Jazz festival.

From 1996 on, he pursues further his formation at the Conservatoire de Toulouse where he studies classical and contemporary music with Philippe Lecoq. In 2000, Emile Parisien moves to Paris. Since then, he has played both in France and abroad with musicians such as Daniel Humair, Michel Portal, Jean-Paul Celea, Jacky Terrasson, Claude Tchamitchian, Yaron Herman, Gueorgui Kornazov, Rémi Vignolo, Manu Codjia, Hervé Sellin, Charlier/Sourisse, and Christophe Wallemme.

In 2004, he takes part in the creation of the show HIP 11, which mixes jazz and hip-hop dances. The same year, he asserts his artistic identity by founding the group Emile Parisien Quartet with Julien Touery (piano), Sylvain Darrifourcq (drums) and Ivan Gélugne (double bass). Inspired by composers of the 20th century, such as John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, or Ornette Coleman, this quartet adds a kind of expressionist character to its music, where improvisation is the guiding principle. By pushing the limits of the concrete, the group acquires, thanks to the complicity of its musicians, a very personal and resolutely modern expression.

In 2007, Emile Parisien was elected Talent of Jazz of the Fond d’action Sacem for 3 years in a row. It is with this support that the quartet records its two discs at the label LABORIE Jazz. “Au revoir porc-épic” in 2007, and “Original Pimpant” in 2009, which received good reviews both from professionals and amateurs.

In September 2009, the Emile Parisian Quartet is offered the Franck Ténot prize, discovery of the year of the Victoires de la musique and they are award-winners of the program Jazz Migration which is put into place by Afijma.

The quartet has today the opportunity to play on European territory (Germany, Swiss, Austria, UK, and Scandinavia) on a regular basis. He is involved in the new quartet of Daniel Humair with Vincent Peirani and Jérome

And plays in their cd “Sweet and Sour” released on 2013.on laborite jazz records. A new cd “live” will be issue on the end of 2014..

In 2012 Emile Parisien was elected “best french musician of the year” by the Académie du Jazz.

in 2014 new recording “Belle Epoque” on Act records in duo with Vincent Peirani, and he is one the musician of the “Generation Spedidam” In 2014 he won “the Victoires de la Musique” for his record in duo “belle époque” with Vincent Peirani.

Booklet for Abrazo