MARTIAL SOLAL

WORKS FOR PIANO AND TWO PIANOS

ERIC FERRAND-N’KAOUA, Piano (Tracks 1-21)
with MARTIAL SOLAL, Piano I (Track 21)

“Jazz and classical musicians often regard one another with curiosity, sometimes even with a touch of envy. At some point, the now separate genres of music to be performed as written and music to be transformed or invented may come together as one again, as used to be the case before performance became a profession in itself. For me, as a classically trained pianist but longtime fan of jazz, meeting Martial Solal was like discovering a long-lost uncle from America who had explored musical territories that I knew nothing about. I am truly delighted and honoured to have had the chance to work with him on this album devoted to his piano compositions.” - Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua

WATCH VIDEOS:
  • SOLAL Exercice de concert (excerpt)   
  • SOLAL Journey to Anatolia (excerpt)   
  • SOLAL Ballade for Two Pianos (excerpt)   
GP697

Martial Solal

About this Recording

European jazz legend Martial Solal is an imaginative and creative thinker for the piano, and one never straightjacketed by music genres. Voyage en Anatolie is a kind of survey of Jazz, with 13 brilliantly linked variations. The Jazz Preludes and Études explore piquant harmonies through innovative pianistic figures, whilst the Exercice de concert offers a stunningly transcribed improvisation. Solal himself plays the first piano part in the Ballade for two pianos.

1 VOYAGE EN ANATOLIE (JOURNEY TO ANATOLIA)
    (2011)* (05:37)

2-8 JAZZ PRELUDES (c. 1990)*
- No. 1. — (01:46)
- No. 2. — (01:29)
- No. 3. — (01:54)
- No. 4. — (03:12)
- No. 5. — (02:20)
- No. 6. — (02:03)
- No. 7. — (02:22)

9 EXERCICE DE CONCERT (CONCERT EXERCISE)
(Co-written with Pascal Wetzel in 2011 from a 1994 improvisation. Dedicated to Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua.) (05:30)

Listen to excerpts from Solal’s
Exercice de Concert and the Ballade for 2 Pianos

10-20 11 ETUDES (1999) *
- No. 1. La Nonchalante (Nonchalant) (01:35)
- No. 2. La Syncopée (Syncopated) (01:20)
- No. 3. La Jazzifiante (Jazzed up) (01:29)
- No. 4. La Joyeuse (Joyful) (01:52
- No. 5. La Charmante (Charming) (02:05)
- No. 6. La Calme et agitée (Calm and Agitated) (03:37)
- No. 7. La Chantante (Singing) (01:49)
- No. 8. La Motorisée (Power-driven) (00:56)
- No. 9. La Tonique (Invigorating) (01:45)
- No. 10. La Trépidante (Frenzied) (01:51)
- No. 11. La Lancinante (Haunting) (02:29)

21 BALLADE FOR 2 PIANOS (1985) with
     Martial Solal (06:50)

* WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS

TOTAL TIME: 53:47

About Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua

French pianist Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua, (pronounced Enkawa), born in 1963, was awarded first prize with distinction in piano at the Paris Conservatoire when aged only 14, soon followed by a first prize in chamber music.

Finalist and prize winner of the Clara Haskil and the Santander Competitions, he started performing as a soloist with several Japanese orchestras before the age of 20.

He then started collaborations with musicians from Eastern Europe, such as the USSR State Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow Soloists, and performed several times in the former USSR. He is a regular guest of the Miami International Piano Festival and has performed in prestigious concert halls such as the Theâtre du Châtelet(Paris), the Wigmore Hall (London) and the Mariinsky Concert Hall (St Petersburg). He is also an avid chamber music performer and forms an unconventional duo with the French violinist Gilles Apap.

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