SAMY THIÉBAULT

After the great success his 9th album « Awé » received, a nomination at French Victoires du Jazz 2023 and a Sacem audience prize for the soundtrack of « L’air de la mer rend libre » (Nadir Moknèche – 2023), the french saxophonist and composer Samy Thiébault immediately got back to work on his next creation – probably the most intimate and ambitious – centered around his love for the Ocean : « In Waves » (out October 11th 2024)

Nobody was shocked when Samy Thiébault announced he was going to sea. His vision of jazz has always been nourished by créolité – the same créolité he embraced so fully on “Caribbean Stories” – and now, he’s simply staying his course. Which leads him precisely to the tropics, where the islands blend together on the horizon. Taking to sea or, more exactly, “going to the ocean,” is for Samy to surrender in a carnal, mystical gesture; to taste the power of nature; to quench a thirst for abandon while in the heart of the wave.

“It’s the first time I’ve taken this long to release a project,” admits Samy. While “In Waves” clearly forms a whole, it should be said that the saxophonist literally crossed the Seven Seas to record in a dozen parts of the globe: Cayenne, Suva, Ventiane, Jakarta, and Manila – to name a few. It’s a kind of a jigsaw puzzle assembled over more than a year, like a rite of passage traversing euphoria, air pockets, deep questioning, daring turns, and unexpected encounters.

“In Waves” is as much a documentary journey as a mythological saga, an odyssey populated by real men and women, sea creatures and ancient gods whom sailors once appealed to for protection. “Na pua ri ki te va ka,” the Polynesians sang before setting sail. “This is my boat; let the ocean serve as my craft.”

Since 2010 Samy Thiebault has been going around the world studying Caribbean music, Indian classical music, Coltrane’s modals, 20th Century’s French litterature, orchestration, North and West-African popular musical traditions. From this exploration a band is born, « probably the best I’ve ever had » he says.

Like an ocean, wide and unpredictable, the band gathers cultures with a strong bond to the sea (Caribbean, Morocco, West-Africa, Brazil) represented by its members.

The drummer Arnaud Dolmen (Victoires du Jazz 2022) trancends his instruement and his Gouadeloupean heritage. Damien Varaillon (« Now Beauty », Hermon Mehari, Musina Ebobissé, Baptiste Herbin, Naïssam Jalal…) is on double bass with his unrivaled lyricism. Leonardo Montana (true floating electron with mixed influences from Brazil, Caribbean and France) plays the piano and Fender Rhodes with an inventive and generous touch. As for the leader Samy Thiébault, his personal story leading him from Morocco to Ivory Coast, Venezula and France, his curiosity and passion… is the hardened skipper sailing on the ocean formed by this incredible crew. Last but not least, the flutist and DJ Marine Thibault (Wax Taylor, Alpha Blondy, Manu Dibango, Odezenne, Tony Allen, Hypoccampe Fou…) embarks in the cruise, to weave acoustic and digital sounds.