Meeting of world and wandering music with the Franco-Armenian duo from Lille, Ladaniva and 5 boys in the wind + a young woman in the Chartreuse massif, Tram des Balkans & Mélissa Zantman. (Rebroadcast)
Our first guests are Jaklin Baghdasaryan and Louis Thomas from duet Ladavina who present their 1er album Ladaniva.
A world music of rare richness, which reinvents what we too narrowly call Balkan folklore, and which energizes – if not dynamites – the Anglo-Saxon pop format. This is the secret of the music of Ladanivawhich also boils down to an improbable meeting, one evening, when two stars decided to link their musical trajectory: Jaklin and Louis. Their story is as intense as their music.
Jaklin And Louis might well have never met. And then it only took one night, in a Lille bar transformed into a jam scene, for the second to fall in love with the voice of the first. She it is Jaklin Baghdasaryan. Born in Armenia, raised in Belarus, she has always sung, as long as she can remember. At six years old, she took up the piano. At seven years old, she enrolled in a music school. But after the baccalaureate, her artistic studies did not fulfill her, not being devoted enough to singing. With her mother, she leaves Belarus for a better life in France. It is not easy, despite the support of the Armenian community. But Jaklin knows she can – literally – find her voice here. While she lives in a home for single women, one evening she decides to defy curfew to go to a jam session… That evening, they will not speak to each other, even if her performance amazed Louis Thomas. Who started playing the trumpet at age seven. His mother is a pianist, and he took lessons at the music school of Quesnoy-sur-Deûle before becoming an illustrator. However, this multi-instrumentalist is addicted to jams, so much so that he decides to devote himself fully to it. Active in several groups, he travels, brings back sound memories from Mali, Colombia or Reunion – which he will later introduce to Jaklin. It’s in the corridors of Lille Jazz Conservatory that these two meet again and get closer. A beautiful day, Jaklin sings spontaneously to traditional Armenian music, and Louis clicks: it is from this repertoire, so rich and intense, that we must draw, without forgetting everything that brings them together. From Louis Armstrong to the Mystères Des Voix Bulgares, from Chopin to Ella Fitzgerald, from Rachmaninov to Brassens. Reggae, gnawa, maloya… and, of course, the great Armenian singer Komitas.
Everything is sucked in, transcended, expertly shaped by Jaklin And Louis, both in pen and composition. Having become an anthem that we sing at all parties in the Armenian diaspora, their single released in 2020, “ Kef Chilini » has more than 27 million views on YouTube. It serves as a global trigger for the recognition of the group, which, in 2023, will tour the United States, from the South by Southwest festival in Los Angeles. Thanks to Thuglong-time accomplice of Louisthey are spotted by [PIAS]. At the same time, they met a film director through the director of their clip. Vay Aman, and perform in concerts throughout France, and even in Armenia in the midst of Covid. The pandemic has barely passed before they begin working on their first album. Which will, quite simply, bear the surname of the group they chose on a whim, the day they posted a cover (in their own style) taken from the Armenian folkloric corpus on YouTube. Ladanivanamed after a Russian 4×4 popular with Armenians, which was driven by the father of Jaklin… but also, surprisingly, that of Louis ! Colorful, kitsch and offbeat, all-terrain, it fits perfectly with the duo’s contrasting vision. Half traditional, half pop, mainly Armenian and sometimes infiltrated by French speakers. Hybrid and mixed, it preaches Balkan melancholy like Creole groove, and, inhabited by hip hop echoes and reggae ambiances, boldly revisits Armenian folklore.
Titles performed at the Grand studio
-Yerku Mas Live RFI watch the clip
– The mountainfrom the album Ladaniva
– I love you so much Live RFI watch the clip
Line Up: Jaklin Baghdasaryan, singing,Louis Thomas, guitar-voice.
Son Mathias Taylor, Benoît Letirant.
► Album Ladaniva Ladaniva (Pias 2023)
Then we welcome the group Tram des Balkans & Mélissa Zantman in the #SessionLive to present the album On the run.
On the run is a wandering project: the story of an ephemeral encounter which could not remain so. 6 musician-singers brought together to create a unique repertoire of world songs and original compositions, and who did not want to leave each other.
On the run was born in the Chartreuse massif, where Balkan TRAM stopped off for several seasons for a long-term artistic residency. Inspired by certain heritage sites, they invited Mélissa Zantman for an acoustic creation intended for two unique performances. Musical and human love at first sight. Mélissa shares with TRAM the joyful taste of singing, of giving on stage with an open heart, of vibrating without restraint with the means at hand: instruments and voices. Venturing into contrasting areas with complete spontaneity and lightness has become their playground.
In the simplicity of this beautiful meeting, the pleasure continued last summer with a ‘tour of the heights’ where, escorted by donkeys, they traveled together through the Chartreuse massif, giving a concert every evening. In the middle of nature as in the middle of the village, the public responded, and happy to be there.
Following this adventure, the musicians decided to deepen the repertoire by bringing it on stage, to dress it up with some lights and scenographic elements. The acoustic spirit that animated them from the start remains essential. They favor a direct sound that calls for a special presence between them, increases the listener’s sensitivity and immerses them in an eloquent intimacy. At times, a few improvised deluges of sound, then wild songs, giving way to sweet nostalgic laments…
Yes, because in this cavalesque repertoire, the voices mingle in a torrent of traveling languages: Bulgarian, Finnish, Italian, Georgian, Hungarian, Hebrew… Mélissa, a mischievous and radiant singer, offers TRAM a new listening and vocal work in-depth, combining power and finesse. Some harmonic turns are very tight, so TRAM fastens its seat belt and goes for it while maintaining its uninhibited energy, establishing a festive and organic complicity. The time of this concert shared with the public is then incredibly intense!
The original sound of certain instruments such as the cittern (a type of 10-string guitar), the kaval (typical Balkan flute) and the jaw harp, naturally complements the violin, accordions, clarinet, double bass and percussion. The polyphonies carried by the 6 voices open the harmonic panel of the troupe, in the joy and emotion, always, of singing together. – – And as such an epic only asks to leave a small trace on its path, the album On the run will be released in fall 2023! So let’s get started, the ride has only just begun.
Titles performed at the Grand studio
– Zortar Mange Live RFI
– On the runfrom the album On the run
– Ninanina Pizzica Live RFI.
Line Up / Mélissa Zantman : Singing, accordion, Nicolas Cannavagia : Vocals, double bass, Matthew Cervera : Vocals, percussion, Vincent Gaffet : Singing, accordion, Diego Meymarian : Vocals, violin, cittern, Vincent Westphal : Vocals, clarinet.
Sound: Mathias Taylor, Benoît Letirant.
► Album On the run (Les Entêtés Prod 2023).