Thierry Vaton has been working for the common good for 30 years by enhancing the repertoire of his contemporaries. Partner in the studio or on stage of many personalities including Angélique Kidjo, Miriam Makeba or Andy Narell, he finally released his own album. “Bel Matjoukannilluminates the delicate virtuosity of an inspired Martinican pianist. A few days before his Parisian concert, on December 14, 2022 at the Sunset, Thierry Vaton tells us in all modesty about his prestigious musical journey.
But why wait so long to bring out the sap of his creativity? We have to believe that too many requests have delayed the production of a disc that many hoped for. Note also that Thierry Vaton receives on this first album the support of good comrades, whose artistic evolution he regularly accompanied. If it can be intimidating to embark on the outline of a personal career, the experience acquired over the years as a composer, arranger and soloist is a significant added value.
“Bel Matjoukannis also an opportunity to reaffirm an attachment to Caribbean heritage and, more particularly, Martinican. Thierry Vaton, like his instrumental counterparts, is fully aware that West Indian history and culture must be cherished so as not to disappear. So he defends with taste and sensitivity the source of his sound universe mixed with jazz, bèlè and ancestral Creole rhythms. The presence of his good friend Angélique Kidjo on his album is not insignificant. It strengthens the invisible transatlantic link between Africa and the Caribbean. This age-old interbreeding is immediately palpable when listening to these ten unpublished compositions revealed by Thierry Vaton today.
It was time to mark the spirits and claim a space of legitimate expression in “The Epic of Black Music”. The “MizikOpeyi” Big Band that Tony Chasseur and Thierry Vaton had promoted 15 years ago, already displayed the fierce desire to give shine to a beautiful heritage that is too little celebrated and yet so enduring. “Bel Matjoukanndrives the point home and invites us to listen with attention and respect to the flamboyant musicality of the island artists of the 21st century.