PAUL JARRET

​Guitarist and composer Paul Jarret continues to plough his highly personal, original and uncompromising artistic furrow with the creation of Tilia, a new quartet with a European dimension. 

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In addition to Paul Jarret, the new quartet features German saxophonist Philipp Gropper (a key figure in Berlin jazz over the past fifteen years), Amsterdam-based Korean drummer Sun-Mi Hong, Europe's “rising star” on drums, and Étienne Renard, a young French double bassist whose musical qualities are gaining increasing recognition, and who has been a regular contributor to Paul Jarret's projects for several years.

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The repertoire, based on the guitarist's compositions, blends lyricism, abstraction and cinematic atmospheres, leaving plenty of room for spontaneity and interaction between the musicians. The influences and energy of alternative rock, dear to the guitarist's heart, are evident in the songwriting, the energy released by the band's collective, and the care taken with the band's sound and the quality of the recording and mixing. Influences such as Deerhoof, Sonic Youth, Battles and Bon Iver can be found among the collective improvisations of free jazz and the libertarian movements of “great black American music”.

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To compose the entire repertoire for this project, Paul Jarret drew his allegorical inspiration from the lime tree (botanical name: Tilia), a majestic, sacred and universal tree, a symbol of justice and freedom, prized for its many virtues and capable of living up to a thousand years. All the titles in the repertoire are derived from this tree: Baucis (from the ancient Greek legend Philemon and Baucis), Bark, Linden, Laima (the Baltic divinity represented by the lime tree)...