A fluctuant tempo through traces of exotic folk and pure French emotion threads the jazz of Louis Sclavis. His frequent tours to the East and South Africa can be easily recognized in his variations as well.
Louis Sclavis (second from right) will lead his jazz band to Shanghai in October. However, the cellist Vincent Courtois (third from right) is unable to make the trip.
"He has a special charisma when he is on the stage,'' says Claude Hudelot of the French Consulate in Shanghai, who has attended several of the French jazz musician's concerts.
Sclavis, recently nominated for a 2002 New York Jazz Award, and three other members of his quintet (cellist Vincent Courtois is unable to make the trip) will come to town in early October for one show, as part of its 12-stop Asian tour.
At Shanghai Center Theater, the audience will see the clarinet-saxophone-keyboard player's compelling expression of music, and regular exciting impromptu performances, as promised by the concert organizers, Alliance Francais and Eastern Shanghai International Culture Exchange Co.
"Instead of art that is put in a museum, jazz keeps growing and developing, and Louis Sclavis, who has both a background in classic jazz education and globetrotting experience of folk music, allows us access to one style of jazz, which is smoky and vivid,'' says Tang Zhihao, former director of the Overseas Cultural Exchange Association, who first introduced the musician to Shanghai in 1998. Tang is now president of the cultural exchange company.
During his debut performance here four years ago, Sclavis joined with Michel Portal, another influential jazz musician in France, since then their collaboration has been on-going.
Born in 1953 in Lyon, Sclavis studied clarinet and began to play in a local brass band before entering the Lyon Conservatory of Music. He continued to play with different bands in France until his own combo was established in 1982, called "Le Tour de France,'' comprising six musicians from different French regions.
This was his first jazz band birthing experience, after that, he founded a septet for the festival Banlieues Bleues, a clarinet trio to showcase contemporary compositions and improvisations, as well as an acoustic quartet.
The active musician is open to working with other facets of the arts, including dance. In 1988, he worked with choreographer-dancer Mathilde Monnier in several performances, among them "A la Renverse,'' "Chinoiserie'' and "Face Nord.''
Sclavis and his band coming to Shanghai will be joined by three other musicians, on trumpet by Jean-Luc Capozzo, double-bassist Bruno Chevillon and drummer Francois Merville, who often join Sclavis on stage at his concerts.
For his second appearance in Shanghai, Sclavis will present a program entitled "The Pretenders' Confrontation,'' well constructed and comprising 12 pieces.
(eastday.com September 29, 2002)
