The Weather Acoustic

Beyond its phenomenal popular success and an aesthetic that has shaped generations, the music of Weather Report reveals a body of work of remarkable richness, dominated by two exceptional composers: Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, later joined by the meteoric bassist Jaco Pastorius.

“The Weather Acoustic,” bringing together Samy Thiébault (saxophone) and Emilie Aridon-Kociołek (piano), revisits the iconic compositions of this legendary group in an intimate, entirely acoustic setting, transforming them to better reveal their depth and timeless character. Each piece is presented as a suite in which, alongside melodies deeply embedded in the collective unconscious, variations, extrapolations, and other reflections imagined by Samy Thiébault coexist.

We thus discover a new facet of this singular artist—more introspective, closer to the saxophone—within an unprecedented acoustic context, alongside an exceptional musician: Emilie Aridon-Kociołek, a student of Michel Béroff, Claire Désert, and Bertrand Chamayou.

The challenge facing Samy Thiébault here is to conceive an entirely written program for a musician who seldom improvises. The piano parts were therefore developed through long writing sessions and tailored specifically for the Polish-born pianist.

Within this inspiring framework, Emilie Aridon-Kociołek reveals the qualities of a fiery performer with an infinite expressive palette. Her sense of motion provides Samy Thiébault with a playground that transforms his improvisational perspective and leads him into spaces he himself seemed unaware of. It is the boldness of an unconventional project that is rewarded here, as the magic of this unprecedented encounter truly comes to life.

Strongly supported by wide-ranging producer Daniel Yvinec, the two artists sketch out unfamiliar landscapes at the boundaries of genres and rise together to a major challenge, both stimulated and united in the face of this monument in jazz history. And to further enhance the pleasure of this encounter, subtle electro-acoustic treatments—like fleeting sonic illusions—offer us a journey where the familiar constantly meets the unknown.

Samy Thiébault
Born in Ivory Coast, Samy Thiébault followed a traditional path at the Bordeaux Conservatory before joining the jazz department of the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) in 2004, graduating in 2008. Alongside his musical studies, he earned a Master’s degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne. “Blues For Nel” was released in 2004, followed by “Gaya Scienza” in 2007 and “Upanishad Experiences” in 2010. In 2013, “Clear Fire” was released, at a time when he began major collaborations in dance, theater, and cinema: the dance production “Les Autres Sois” in 2022, Nadir Moknèche’s film “L’Air de la mer” in 2023 (winner of the France Musique / Sacem Award for Best Film Score of the Year), and Edouard Tissot’s mid-length film “En Son Absence” in 2014. The release of “Feast Of Friends” in 2015, a tribute to The Doors, marked a major turning point in his career and led him to invite renowned trumpeter Avishai Cohen to collaborate on his 2016 album “Rebirth.” In 2018, “Caribbean Stories” was released, the first part of a trilogy on creolization, followed in 2019 by “Symphonic Tales” with the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (nominated for the Victoires du Jazz Award for Best Album), and concluded in 2021 with “Awé,” recorded across the globe. Awarded the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2024, he released his tenth album, “In Waves,” blending his love of the ocean, music as a sacred art, and human encounters.

Émilie Aridon-Kociolek
Introduced to music at an early age within her family, Émilie Aridon-Kociolek gave her first recital in Poland at the age of 9 in the town of Żywiec. Her early training was shaped by the teaching of Denis Pascal at the Rueil-Malmaison Conservatory, as well as Pierre Reach, Eric Le Sage, and Paul Meyer at the Paris Conservatory, and marked by several awards in various national and international competitions in France and abroad. Passionate about contemporary creation and committed from the outset to exploring the widest possible repertoire, her encounter with tango and pianist Gustavo Beytelmann gave a decisive impulse to her career. Today, Émilie Aridon-Kociolek is active in a variety of projects, including Quinteto Respiro, Quinteto Emedea, Ensemble Carabanchel, Ensemble Icosikaihenagone, Ensemble 2e2m, and Ensemble Octetology, and performs alongside artists such as Agnès Jaoui, Philippe Cohen Solal, Minino Garay, Javier Estrella, Benjamin Duboc, and Fernando Fiszbein.