Lubat and Solal both at the piano, it inevitably strikes, and flatters our imagination. We may say, beware of
too many superlatives, this musical encounter is at the top (and at the base), as exceptional as it is obvious. And as much as they may not stay in place, making ironical storms, biting, caressing, these two will go well in the inner circle of the “greats” of improvised jazz music and its long history in France. They participated in its writing. They have also done much writing on them and through them. They share, each in his own way of course, a taste for experimentation, distilled throughout the course of jazz standards of which they like revisiting richly developed themes. All the art of Art Tatum is found unceremoniously under the fingers of Solal, but with a harmonic, melodic and rhythmic irreverence, based on the surprise and pleasure of discovery. The ideal state of mind to see
Bernard Lubat. This love of jazz did not prevent them (and why would it have prevented them from anything, anyway?) to embark in contemporary classical music projects, one with Marius Constant, the other Luciano Berio. Or to associate with filmmakers, Jean-Luc Godard (A bout de Souffle) and Jean-Pierre Melville, the other for songwriters such as Bobby Lapointe, Yves Montand or Nougaro. Last but not least, they have a deep respect for one another and better than that: a great admiration and great knowledge of each other, forever.