Pierre Thomas-Fredon presents “A la poursuite du temps,” a track that masterfully blends jazz aesthetics with a variety of elements, all centered around the enchanting sound of the oud, which weaves through the air like a timeless whisper. Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
expressive mediterranean jazz
Tell us a few thinsg about «A la poursuite du temps». What is the story behind it?
“À la poursuite du temps” (« In pursuit of time ») is a composition I wrote a few years ago and which had remained on paper. At the end of the second half of 2023 I recorded my first album, ‘Lasciate ogni speranza’, a set of compositions played as a duo. It was with the track ‘Encontrar la paz’, recorded with Mohamed Elaroui on oud, that the desire to continue recording my music really took shape. But the world tours came thick and fast and I didn’t have enough time for everything. That’s when my anxiety about time came back and I came back to this composition. As I often tour with Mohamed Elaroui in a big oriental music project and at the same time play in Paris with drummer Antoine Loemba’s quartet, which includes Marcian Buffard on piano, I decided to bring these musicians together and record this song.The idea, as well as playing music together, was to bring together some incredible musicians and take the time to discuss music together. As well as the music, when it comes to a project under my name the idea is to bring together only friends, people with whom you can’t see the time go by when you’re with them. That’s why we’ve got Djibee, from studio pain de mie, an incredible sound engineer, Maxence Granville who’s an incredible techno DJ and producer but also an extraordinary director who took care of the video, Bold_JPG, a brilliant Algerian illustrator and graphic designer and Cebos Nalcakan, a great photographer who took care of the cover photos. It’s when you surround yourself with friends and good, talented people that time seems to stand still and you find a form of peace.
You’ve woven elements of jazz and traditional oriental music into this piece. How do you approach blending these styles while preserving their distinctiveness?
It’s always difficult for me to answer this question. For me, this cross-fertilisation is natural and obvious. If you think of music as a form of language, it’s normal to interact with all the cultures and people you come across. Being a jazz musician of Spanish origin and living in Barbès-Rochechouart, the historic district of North African immigrants in the north of Paris, this mix is obvious. And it’s here, in my humble opinion, that beautiful things are born, when people from different cultures get together to discuss things in a friendly way. As well as being an inexhaustible source of artistic and cultural inspiration, it’s important in this day and age to show that, whoever we are, we can get together and create things together. But you have to do it honestly, by really talking to each other and listening to different cultures. If everyone listens to each other, things happen in the most natural way possible.
Adding to our previous question, your music often travels between Eastern and Western traditions. What drives your exploration of these cultural intersections?
The answer to this question is quite similar to the previous one. At its core, jazz is a music that comes from different cultures. For me, it’s just a continuity. Living in a multi-cultural neighbourhood, surrounded by so many different communities, it’s natural for us to get together and exchange ideas, to build bridges between us rather than barriers. After that, I’ve had the immense privilege of touring the world, meeting and playing with a huge number of musicians from different countries and cultures. And it’s impossible for me to ignore this immense cultural wealth. And I think that by travelling, playing and talking to all these different people, their words, their stories and their music have had a huge impact on me. I think it’s important to remain curious and to listen to others at all times, because that’s what makes us grow and raises us up. Let’s remain curious, let’s search, let’s discuss and let’s break down the barriers between us. Life is a constant exchange between us
Improvisation plays a significant role in your new music. Is improvisation a talent or a skill?
Improvisation is the result of these two points. It’s a skill because it requires a lot of work, which continues throughout our lives, depending on our individual development as musicians. We work on harmony, rhythm, different ways of playing and listening. It’s all work. But when you get to the point where you’re playing, where the music really takes hold, the magic happens. You forget all that work and the unconscious and the discussion with the other musicians or with everything you’ve worked on and listened to take over. In my modest opinion, improvisation is an open discussion with oneself, with others and with the music.
A song you would pay to hear for the first time again?
I could pay a flat rate every day to listen to Loyle Carner’s ‘Speed of plight’ over and over again. He’s by far the artist who’s made the biggest impact on me in recent years. As a musician I’m amazed by people’s ability to put into words what they’re going through and Loyle Carner’s writing, flow and musicality is absolutely incredible to me.
As a composer, arranger, and performer, you wear many hats. Which role do you find most fulfilling, and why?
I won’t be able to choose, I don’t claim to be a good composer, arranger or performer. Each of these hats is a discipline in its own right and requires an enormous amount of talent and skill that I don’t think I have. I try to do it as best I can because I’m interested in all of them. Composing and arranging is a wonderful job because you give life to what you hear or what you want to express, but I couldn’t live without sharing the stage with the artists I accompany, because to feel and see the joy that the audience feels is for me one of the most beautiful things on this earth, it’s an extraordinary chance to be able to see and feel that. For me, they are all enriching and feed off each other.
With the holiday season approaching, what are your hopes and wishes for the future?
For the time being, in the very near future, I’ll be taking some time off with my family after this year of being away all over the world. And for the future, I hope we can continue to meet, discuss, debate and move forward together. Although the future of the world is monopolised by news that is more than worrying, I think it’s our duty to come together and show that there are no differences, no matter where we come from, no matter our religion, our identity or our social origin, we can all exchange ideas together and move forward, and that’s the only way we’ll get through this. We have the strength of culture against the culture of force. And thank you, thank you for giving us the floor and allowing us to express ourselves, as we say in my neighbourhood, we’re in this together. To finish, I borrow Loyle Carner’s slogan, which I find incredible : « Take these words and go forward ».
Thank you!
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