Living Being IV - Time Reflections
LIVING BEING IV– TIME REFLECTIONS
Compositions and arrangements by Vincent Perani
Vincent Peirani - accordion, accordina
Tony Paeleman - rhodes, piano
Emile Parisien - soprano saxophone
Julien Herné - bass
Yoann Serra - drum
In 2024, we will mark the band’s 15th anniversary and give a concert in March at La Seine Musicale to celebrate this milestone.
It all began in 2009 in a basement in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, and since then, we have released two albums: the first, in 2015, was the self-titled Living Being, and the second, Night Walker, came out in 2018.
On the live front, we’ve been lucky enough to play a lot over the years, whether as a quintet, with guests (Leïla Martial, Mathias Eick, Michel Portal, Sylvain Bardiau), or as a larger ensemble. I’m thinking in particular of our latest “extended” group adventure: it was for the 40th anniversary of the Jazz à Vienne festival in 2021, where I had carte blanche and, for the occasion, I rearranged part of the Living Being II repertoire with a 14-piece wind ensemble and, the icing on the cake, very special guests: singer Piers Faccini and cellist Vincent Segal.
All these experiences with larger ensembles have truly been exceptional every time and have allowed us to grow and develop the music considerably.
With ‘Living Being IV: Time Reflections’, Vincent Peirani and his quintet present a work deeply rooted in the reflection and musical exploration of time. Composed of Émile Parisien, Tony Paeleman, Yoann Serra and Julien Herné, this new project invites us to explore a sound where each note is imbued with the complexity and nuances of the rhythm of life.
Born in the particular context of the first months of the Covid pandemic, this record is the fruit of a moment of forced pause for Vincent Peirani, a break in his daily life that led him to meditate on the way in which time shapes our lives and our perception of the world. ‘Time Réflections’ is a mosaic of contemporary beats and echoes of traditional dance, with a nod to baroque music, which finds an unexpected and poetic place here.
Vincent Peirani's collaborations with artists from diverse backgrounds add an intertextual dimension to his music. In this album, the influences of Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke and German pianist Michael Wollny are clearly evident in two tracks specially dedicated to them.
These resonances illustrate the richness and diversity that characterise Peirani's work, offering a musical experience that is both introspective and universal.
As I mentioned earlier, we’ll be celebrating our 15th anniversary in 2024, and in addition to this “anniversary” concert, I felt it was important to mark the occasion with a new album by preparing *Living Being IV*. *Living Being III* was supposed to be released during the pandemic, so I decided to skip straight to the fourth installment!
For our next installment, people suggested I do something special—with guests, soloists, a chamber orchestra, a choir, and so on… All these ideas are excellent, but I think we still have a lot to say as a quintet.
There’s always been a break between each Living Being program, and for good reason. I’ve always viewed this quintet as a laboratory where we don’t hold back. Every time we get together, we catch up on each other’s musical progress: “So? What have you been up to all this time? Got anything to play for us?” What’s certain is that we’re returning to a group with a history, a long-standing legacy, but each time, we come back with new musical experiences, new influences—and that’s only better for the adventures ahead.
I know that bassist Julien Herné has been heavily involved in hip-hop in recent years, both as a bassist and as a sound engineer and producer. It’s clear that this has influenced him and, consequently, his music, his playing, and by extension, the sound of Living Being. Even though I’m the one who provides the material for the band (original songs, covers), everyone contributes to putting the set together.
Here’s an example: the track “Night Walker” wasn’t like that at all originally, and it was actually Julien Herné who, after listening to my demo, suggested a completely different bass line that took the song into another world—more futuristic, intoxicating, with a sense of perpetual motion (at least that’s how I felt). I loved it, and it’s really that bass line that became the track’s DNA!
Another new element for Living Being IV is that I’m going to experiment with effects. Up until now, there’s been an electronic-acoustic balance within the band, with the Fender Rhodes and bass on one side and the soprano sax and accordion on the other. This balance between the electronic and acoustic elements has clearly defined our band’s sound. Changing one of these parameters will shift that balance… It’s up to me to find my new role and make sure it “fits” with the rest of the band.
I know it’s the same with Émile Parisien’s soprano sax. On the upcoming repertoire for his EPQ quartet, he’s using effects on his saxophone, so it’s very likely he’ll want to use them with the quintet as well. It’s up to us to be careful not to go overboard!
VINCENT PEIRANI
Vincent Peirani – springtime full time
He’s always on the go. Everything started to move faster for the young accordionist after he left the
family cocoon in Nice and the classical repertoire for Paris, the jam sessions of his generation,
experiences as a vocalist, and African music, flamenco... and above all the CNSM*, which proved
to be doubly decisive.
At the CNSM Vincent had his first experiences playing in duo, following a proposal from
saxophonist Vincent Lê Quang. It was there too that he met Daniel Humair – a crucial encounter.
The latter was to boost his confidence, encourage him to assert himself as a soloist, and oOer him
a new playground: the Sweet & Sour Quartet, alongside Jérôme Regard and that will-o’-the-wisp
Émile Parisien. That was in 2012. In two years, Vincent Peirani had gone from being someone that
nobody had heard of to recording his first album as leader! He was soon in the spotlight. At the
same time, he was accompanying Youn Sun Nah. Double exposure, national and international.
The rocket had been launched, and Vincent’s encounter with Michel Portal was to develop his
penchant for unforeseeable interactions – he who loves nothing so much as fitting in, planning
ahead, organising, modifying… Countless duos followed. With Émile Parisien, of course, but also
with pianist Michael Wollny, double bassist Michel Benita, guitarists Pierre Perchaud, Federico
Casagerande and Yamandu Costa, then more recently harmonica player Grégoire Maret, and not
forgetting, for the past 20 years, classical cellist François Salque.
Whatever Vincent Peirani does, one is unfailingly struck by his total commitment. He has a way
of engaging with music as if it’s for the last time. It’s more than just the art of “conversing” amongst
musicians. Vincent admits that he loves to accompany soloists. He delights in providing the
rhythm, the chords, the bass... In that respect he’s the one who calls the shots, passing the ball to
whoever is going to score the winning goal!
But he’s not one for standing barefoot on the same stage for long. Vincent’s speciality is… not
being a specialist. He has a great time providing dense scores for his Living Being Quintet, a jazzpop
formula in which everyone knows the script but is free to take personal liberties. And with
Jokers, Ziv Ravitz and Federico Casagrande take him into the realm of jazz, opening up wide areas
of freedom that he hadn’t anticipated.
Another trio, Mazahni, closer to world music, with Jean-Christophe Maillard, saz, and Bijan
Chemirani, percussion, is also dear to him for its commitment to oral tradition. And since he’s not
one to stagnate, Vincent Peirani also yields to temptation at the other end of the spectrum for a
more electro project with three musicians from the Percussions de Strasbourg. And that’s not all:
his eyes light up when he mentions My Favorite Strings, a recording project featuring duos and
expanded formulas, with double basses, cellos, guitars, a banjo, played by Renaud Garcia Fons,
Vincent Segal, Yamandu Costa and Béla Fleck.
Is he likely to slow down? That wouldn’t be in his nature. And while his music seems totally
assertive – perhaps more settled today – he still considers it vitally important to be ready to take
on new challenges and to be prepared to take risks.
Alex Dutilh
*CNSM: the Paris Conservatoire (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique)