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L'Orchestre de Contrebasses

L'Orchestre de Contrebasses (France)

The formation of six double basses peers out at us from the other side of the mirror. Eyes closed, into its playful universe, everything seems bland, geometric, traced in advance.


Line Up:

Christian Gentet - double bass
Jean-Philippe Viret - double bass
Xavier Lugue - double bass
Yves Torchinsky - double bass
Olivier Moret - double bass
Etienne Roumanet - double bass

On Stage: 6
Travel party: 7-8




Biography:

Created in 1981 by Christian Gentet, L'Orchestre de ContreBasses symbolises a most original and promising approach to modern musical creativity. This vibrant music has received international acclaim due to the surprising combination of sound and lightning effects. L'Orchestre de ContreBasses groups six virtuosi, both composers and performers. These musicians blend sound and sight: a revolutionary repertoire in which music discovers new horizons, where the double bass, pushed to its extreme limits, becomes sensual, seductive and magical, where we find ourselves willing captives of a spontaneous musical flight into a dream world. Between institutional approaches to contemporary music and jazz, these musicians and composers have chosen to create a very personal type of music: these prize-winning virtuosi have launched themselves into a new musical dimension created in the image of their multiple inspirations, ranging from soul music and jazz to the latino spirit. Bowing techniques are rendered even more dynamic, jostled by the rhythms, haunted by the melodies and liberated in their improvisations. The absence of routines, the mastery of the vibrato and the use of the resonant wealth of the instrument confer an original identity on the group.Like jazz, this free-style music owes a lot to improvisation. Is it not the mark of contemporary music to evolve in a different direction at each performance? If in their precedent CD, Le mystere des bois vulgaires is an overt homage to jazz, this new recording reveals unedited modes of playing the double bass. The musicians take risks, and astound the audience with their range of resonance. The search for a new and seductive attitude towards music incites the musicians to present their compositions within the context of a show, where the theatrical lighting accentuates their poetry, where the movements of men and instruments form a genuine ballet and embody the music itself. From rock and roll bands to classical quartets, the notion of a shared identity, beginning with a musical coherency and extending to the rhythmic structure, is essential to the elaboration of a refined music repertoire, in which the group's maturity expresses itself through difficult homorhythms, proof in itself of a collective musical concept.



Discography:

1991 Les Cargos - Musica Guild
1993 Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass, Bass & Bass - Musica Guild
1996 Jeux Dangereux - Musica Guild
2004 Musique de l'homme - Melodie
2012 Are You Sexperienced



YouTube Videos:

Video supporting 'Are You Sexperienced'

L'Orchestre de Béret, Beurre Corninchons 2011

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