THE MORNING LIST
This week we offer you a diverse selection of books on the subject of music: biographies of the composer Erik Satie or the guitarist Jimi Hendrix, chronicles of a producer and a jazz critic, a collection of poems by the Gwerz, this song of Breton tradition. We also discuss the history and art of DJing from one of its exponents, an ambitious book recording celebrating Monteverdi’s last opera, a summary of the musette and an alphabet book dedicated to Bach.
An authentic interpretation of Erik Satie’s life
The life of Erik Satie is rich in juicy anecdotes and cannot be satisfied with an adequate reparation as suggested by some deserving biographers. It needs to be “interpreted” as a score, a set of data to be energized in a creative perspective. This is exactly what Célia Houdart does in this book, whose ingenuity is only surpassed by the precision of the sources. Dadaist before his time, revered by John Cage, the promoter of the famous “ Furniture music » has the meaning of the formula. Also Célia Houdart. For her, Satie is “ a fakir also acted as an acrobat ” or a ” Beggar king walking under the moon “. The inspired author neglects no detail of her existence without a common thread and even goes so far as to travel on foot from Arcueil to Montmartre to “ get an idea » from what Satie had seen.
She also knows how to listen to music and make subtle connections to the work of several filmmakers (from Michelangelo Antonioni to Jean Eustache). On all pages, Célia Houdart identifies with her subject, and without the italics, her sentences, both concentrated (few words) and open (several readings possible), would easily be confused with those of Satie. “ Ignore your own presence. We look at each other from a distance » recommends the composer. “Anonymity personal”, summarizes the author, whose text is skilfully reproduced by Alain Huck’s drawings. Here too a real score, partly in circular notation like that of the American George Crumb. P.Gi
Cultural chronicles from the founder of the AxolOtl Jazz label
Founder and producer of the phonographic company AxolOtl Jazz (around twenty references since 1994, from the pianists François Tusques, Jeff Gardner, Guillaume de Chassy, Patrick Favre, the double bassist and pianist Cesarius Alvim, the drummer Frédéric Jeanne, etc.) Jean- Louis Wiart selected thirty of his columns for the irregular magazine of the Les Allumés du Jazz association, founded in 1996 and currently bringing together around a hundred independent labels.
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