Caravan Palace
David Krakauer

As Caravan Palace’s début album was coming out in 2008, the European scene was just in the process of turning the page on the electro-jazz phenomenon, one of the most creative in the genre’s history. In contrast to the frequently brooding, atmospheric music produced by ensembles from the first half of the decade, Caravan Palace’s was festive and bright and offered an irresistible, overpowering cocktail of electro beats, gypsy guitar, groove and swing — everything that makes jazz and electronic music two of the most popular genres ever. By bridging, in their own way, two worlds that had everything required both to work well together and conquer hearts, and through dint of solid gold hit after solid gold hit — all sophisticated, all accessible — they became first a national, then an international sensation. While Zoé Colotis’ versatile voice has allowed the band to incorporate elements of pop, rock and soul into their music, they remain true stage performers. Five years of patience are about to pay off as Caravan Palace will shortly be bringing out their newest opus. What better way to (re)discover this sextet’s vintage electro than via a concert set to transform the Théâtre Antique into France’s biggest dancefloor?

Line-up :

• Sonia Fernandez Velasco (v)
• Lucas Saint-Cricq (sax)
• Martin Berlugue (tb)
• Arnaud De Bosredon (g)
• Romain Théret (kbd)
• Charles Delaporte (cb, synth)

He wears the kind of three-piece suit a lawyer in New York might, but don’t mind that... The twinkle in his eye is a much better sign that his is set to be one thrilling concert! Clarinet player David Krakauer’s vocation, which he has generously and successfully pursued since the beginning of his career in the late 1970s, is to make people happy. Each and every one of his performances on stage always turns into a giant celebration, whether his clarinet starts engaging in a dance with Fred Wesley’s trombone, DJ Socalled’s samples, or with any other merry sidekick. This is no concert for the melancholy!

For his first performance on stage at the Théâtre Antique, the great reviver of Klezmer clarinet invites us to a “Mazel Tov Cocktail Party”, which is set to be utterly festive! Alongside South African pianist and producer Kathleen Tagg, he promises an “explosion of good vibrations” thanks also to an entire assembly of remarkable talents: jazz bassist Jerome Harris, singer and rapper Sarah MK, Iranian percussionist Martin Shamoonpour and guitarist Yoshie Fruchter, who is just as happy playing the oud. Now that is an ensemble for one spectacular party! And one that’s truly human too — herein lies one of this musical adventure’s key goals — whose guiding principles are tolerance, harmony and peace. “With a world so sad, it is artists’ responsibility to bring joy into it”, he argues. Everything points to this pledge being met!