MOVIES & GYPSIES by PIERRE BLANCHARD & METROPOLE ORKEST

Arranging also means disrupting. For his sixth album as a leader, Movies & Gypsies, violinist, composer, and arranger Pierre Blanchard deconstructs iconic musical themes from cinema, infusing them with the spirit of gypsy jazz. “The Godfather, Schindler's List, Cinema Paradiso, The Thomas Crown Affair”... These major works are revisited in the 12 tracks on the album, using a variety of techniques. “For Schindler's List, for example, the original melody, which consists of about ten notes, has been extended over three octaves to increase its lyrical power tenfold,” explains Pierre Blanchard.
“When I'm up in the high notes, I improvise and come back down in stages to find the authentic sound.”
Another way of deconstructing the instrumentation is to play a game of hide-and-seek between the original melody and the improvisation. The reference theme fades away to make way for frenzied choruses, before reappearing in small touches and asserting itself, as in The Godfather. But also in “Singing In The Rain,” where Nacio Herb Brown's composition is drowned in a torrent of blue notes that convey a feeling of joy. To the ears, the solo violin skips and capers: we are carried away by the swing, and the song emerges dusted off. The same is true of the theme from “Love Story,” of which almost nothing remains of the original, then diverted into a gypsy bossa nova. “With this album, I tried to make something new out of something old, by exploiting neglected gems,” sums up Pierre Blanchard, who selected the film music based on his personal favorites. “In particular, the dreamlike tunes, which transport me,” he adds.

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