Soulful sounds from Paris

The ever-evolving Swiss/French jazz trumpet player Erik Truffaz comes to town this week with yet another new ensemble. Titled the "Paris Project," it includes French vocalist Sly Johnson and Italian percussionist Philippe Garcia.

The Paris Project first appeared in 2008 on Rendez-Vous, a triple CD compilation (on Blue Note/EMI) of three site-specific recordings Truffaz made with musicians either from or representing Paris, Mexico and Benares, India.

Speaking to The Prague Post from his home high in the French Alps, Truffaz explains that the project started three years ago, when he was on a television show in France with Sly Johnson, who was appearing with the Paris-based rap collective Saian Supa Crew. The two performed together, and from that experience the Rendez-Vous project was born.

After recording in Paris with Johnson, Truffaz went to India and recorded the Benares Project in Calcutta, with Indira Mukherjee on vocals and Apurba Mukherjee on tablas. Then he brought Mexican electronica artist Murcof, formerly of the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective, to Europe to record the Mexico Project.

Truffaz has said that he likes Spartan settings like mountains and deserts, and the Benares and Mexico projects certainly reflect this. But, long before those recordings, Truffaz had been creating serene, Spartan soundscapes with his minimalist trumpet on top, harking back to the cool, modal jazz approaches pioneered by Miles Davis.

He also admits to being strongly influenced by Jon Hassel, a cutting-edge composer and trumpet player who worked with Brian Eno. While his sound is certainly similar to Hassel's, with its dreamy layers of electronic haze and the trumpet floating softly over the mix, Truffaz has also strived to continually update his sound by working with different musicians, DJs and powerful vocalists from a variety of genres, notably drum and bass, acid jazz and nu jazz.

So the Paris Project fits in perfectly as another new direction. From the very first track, "Mr. Wyatt," the deep, soulful voice of Sly Johnson reveals what a combination of Bobby McFerrin meets Al Green could do with some electro-jazz explorers.

Truffaz and Johnson's cover version of The Beatles' "Come Together" is also a brilliant interaction. "I was sure it would work easily with Sly Johnson," Truffaz says about that cut. "We did it in one take, and it worked. It's a song with such strong bass lines and melodies, without harmony."

Johnson doesn't exactly sing the lyrics to the songs. Instead, he uses his voice and breath to intone or mimic specific words and phrases, similar to the way the theatrical McFerrin uses his chest for percussive and rhythmic effects.

On "Nina's Dream," Johnson finally belts out a deep soul song with lyrics, recalling the funky soul of Sly & the Family Stone. And, on the track "Mouche," made up mostly of a vocal chant of "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," one can imagine a nu-Paris ghetto-style soul sound in the making.

Truffaz's trumpet weaves through the mix, articulating a counterpart or a sailing voice reacting to Johnson's vocalizations. For all of its contemporary elements, their collaboration also calls to mind some of the earliest jazz recordings, in particular the way Louis Armstrong used his trumpet like a vocalist, leading the playful call-and-response in a song.

Truffaz has added some weight to the touring version of the Paris Project with Garcia, another cutting-edge musician who recently recorded a solo dub-step project under the pseudonym Captain Planet.

The Paris Project will visit four cities in the Czech Republic: Ústí nad Labem, Brno, Trutnov, then Prague. "I love the following I have in Eastern Europe, including Prague, Budapest and Istanbul," Truffaz says, adding, "I have very good fans in Brno."

And he always looks forward to visiting Prague. "I love to walk in Prague, especially at night, up to the Castle when all of the tourists are not there," he says. "Prague is a good city. And besides, I'm a big fan of Milan Kundera."

He pauses a moment, then asks, "What do the Czechs think of him now?"

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com