Baroque Tardif: Soli

Florent Ghys - Baroque Tardif: Soli

...Florent works in a style situated between contemporary and pop music, creating tonal masses with or without pulsation.

With two degrees in ethno-musicology from schools in Bordeaux, and studying double bass under Thierry Barbe in Paris, Florent Ghys participated in the Bang on a Can Summer Festival in 2007 and joined a welcoming community of new music composers and musicians . Upon returning to France, Florent felt musically isolated - of being out of tune with his new environment - and immediately began writing.

Though not intending to compose a solo for himself playing the upright bass, the purpose was to create a "multiple-me" ensemble, as he calls it. "I know multi-track recording will never replace live recording," says Florent, "but multi-tracking was an interesting starting point to see if I was going to change my compositional process while writing strictly for me - after all, the instrumentation for the EP was linked only to the instruments I can actually play. I could have an upright bass, a bass, a guitar, an electric guitar, a voice. I could also use a pianino (a small 6 octaves piano) and hit some dishes in my kitchen."

As a composer, Florent works in a style situated between contemporary and pop music, creating tonal masses with or without pulsation. It has often been said to resemble American minimalist music, which makes him a complementary addition to the Cantaloupe coterie.

Baroque Tardif: Soli is the first release by Florent Ghys on Cantaloupe.


"In 2007, I returned to my hometown of Bordeaux, France, and decided to record a CD.

"I soon asked myself: What would I write if I had to write for an ensemble in which I am the only player? 

"The reasons for this schizophrenic question are multiple. Returning to Bordeaux from Paris, I had the feeling of being musically isolated - of being out of tune with my new environment - and I couldn?t stop writing. I was also interested by the idea of breaking the boundary between the composer and the musician, and the feeling I had of sitting in the audience while my music was being played onstage wasn?t, to be honest, all that satisfying.

"I didn't intend to compose a solo for myself playing the upright bass, nor did I intend to compose a piece for me and a fleet of clones, but I did intend to create a "multiple-me" ensemble.

"I know multi-track recording will never replace live recording, but multi-tracking was an interesting starting point to see if I was going to change my compositional process while writing strictly for me - after all, the instrumentation for the EP was linked only to the instruments I can actually play. I could have an upright bass, a bass, a guitar, an electric guitar, a voice. I could also use a pianino (a small 6 octaves piano) and hit some dishes in my kitchen.

"Doing everything by myself - from composition to cover design - was also a way to take time and to control everything, as opposed to the experiences I had in the past with rushed rehearsals, bad recordings, etc. In retrospect I can say it's also revealing of the recent social changes we've had in France shifting from a collective atmosphere to an increasingly individualistic society." – Florent Ghys

Artists

Baroque Tardif: Soli
CA21051
Formats: 
CD / Digital
Release Date: 
01/26/2010