Guitarist
Jean-Pierre Llbador has remained a favorite among guitar connoisseurs
since his recordings with his 1970's band Coincidence. In the 1980's,
Jean-Pierre released a number of great guitar based instrumental albums
and CDs that were critically acclaimed world wide. Now in 2013, Jean-Pierre
has released his first ever vocal based album entitled Voices.
Highlights of this 25 track CD are featured vocals from Jean-Pierres
daughter, Suzanne Llabador and lyrics from daughter Géraldine
Llabador, who each sound totally in sync with their famous dad.
Regarding working with his two gifted daughters on CD for the first
time Jean-Pierre adds, 'I
feel great about the fact we could all three of us work on a common
project'. Further commenting
on his first ever vocal-based album, Jean-Pierre confesses, 'I felt
the urge to kinda open up the window after a lot of instrumental jazz
albums, to work with talented young people. They're all in their twenties,
I'm the old fox.' Backing up the three Llabadors are a number of top
side players and great singers who add further prestige and shine
to this jazzy, pop-based album from guitar hero Jean-Pierre Llabador.
www.llabador.com
mwe3.com speaks with
JEAN-PIERRE LLBADOR
mwe3: What was it like working with your two daughters, Géraldine
and Suzanne who join you in the studio for the Voices CD?
JEAN-PIERRE
LLABADOR: My older daughter Géraldine wrote most of the
lyrics that are printed in the CD booklet. It's been a great pleasure
for me to work with her, for the first time in fact. She wrote the
lyrics after she had heard the music. We've both been so glad that
we decided to carry on in the near future.
My younger daughter Suzanne sings in the album her own tune "Suzanne",
the shorter tracks (the 5 tracks, one letter each, that comprise the
word V.O.I.C.E.), the last song "Real Light" and a few backing
vocals here and there... It's also been, of course, a great joy to
be with her in the studio.
I feel great about the fact we could all three of us work on a common
project...
mwe3: Can you tell us the other musicians and singers who joined
you for the Voices CD?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: The main players were Romain Preuss on
bass and beat box, Julien Asencio and Clyde Rabatel-Zapata on keyboards.
All the others musicians were guests on the album. I cant name
them all here, but of course, theyre all credited on the CD
cover. A special mention though to Roger Nikitoff on saxophone and
Bernard Margarit on guitar.
The voices are:
Leopoldine Angot on tracks 1, 6, 12, 17, 22
Tania Margarit on tracks : 2, 7,9, 13, 19
Chloé Monin on tracks : 3, 10, 15, 18
Alice Faivre on tracks : 4, 23, 24
I knew all these singers and composed the songs according to what
I thought would suit them best...
mwe3:
Voices is very different from your all instrumental albums
yet you can also hear your guitar sound and musical vibe throughout.
What were you aiming for on the Voices CD?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I just really wanted to record "pop
songs" actually, which is altogether a very different way of
composing and, in my opinion, requires specific skills and abilities
such as: be concise, get right to the point, efficiency in the melodies,
with references to all the kinds of music I've always liked: pop,
rock, folk, jazz, soul, funk...
I felt the urge to kinda open up the window after a lot of instrumental
jazz albums, to work with talented young people. They're all in their
twenties, I'm the old fox... I've never had voices on any album, and
I love the human voice especially feminine. Twas about time
for me to go for it.
mwe3: What guitars are you featuring on Voices?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I've been using quite a few guitars
on this project:
Gibson SG (which I use on stage for this group )
Fender Stat and Jazzmaster
Acoustic Beuzon (custom made)
Acoustic Gibson Dove
Gibson L5
mwe3: You have such an amazing past in both rock and jazz, so
what artists and guitarists had the biggest impact on your playing
when you were younger and what artists continue to inspire you in
2013?
JEAN-PIERRE
LLABADOR: When I was a young teenager I used to listen, quite
surprisingly, to both jazz, pop and rock at the same time.
Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, my all time favorite jazz guitarist,
then Scotty Moore, Hank Marvin, Steve Cropper were my guitar
heroes. I listened to them a lot. I also used to dig Ray Charles,
James Brown, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, a lot of rhythm and blues
singers and players and groups like The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks.
When Jimi Hendrix appeared it was, for me a real shock. His playing,
singing, lyrics changed my life!
Along with him I discovered Jeff Beck who, in my opinion, is the best
living rock player. I also liked Steve Howe and the group
Yes and individuals such as Stevie Wonder, so talented and shining,
David Bowie, James Taylor for instance...
In my late twenties and after, I began to listen to and discover great
jazz artists like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and his incredible
writing, Joe Pass, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, my favorite piano
player, Louis Armstrong, Tony Williams, Pat Martino, George Benson,
my favorite living jazz guitarist, to name just a few...
All these people inspired me a lot and still do! I have to add to
these names Joss Stone, who is such a great singer...
mwe3:
What about the 5 tracks that form the word V.O.I.C.E on Voices?
How do they fit into the mix on the CD? Maybe next time, along
with the vocals you could include a few more instrumentals in the
Coincidence style for the old fans!
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I just wanted to add very short pieces
of music in between the tracks like small bits of dreaming making
up a broken V.O.I.C.E. among fulfilled VOICES.
Actually, my next project is an all-instrumental solo all-guitar album,
Ive never done it, in which youll find all kinds of music
including pieces in the Coincidence style. Its like
youve guessed it... Good feeling!
mwe3: Whats the music scene and guitar scene like in
France these days and how has your new music received in France and
other European countries?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: The music and guitar scenes in France
are quite similar to what they are everywhere in the world these days
actually.
Global uniformity is the new deal for the best and / or the worst....
To start with we all talked about music, then it was music business,
its now business. No bitterness in this sentence, thats
just the way it is.
My album VOICES was well received in France, which allows me
to tour quite a bit with the band, in spite of the fact that theres
9 people on stage! Quite a crew... Its for me such a joy to
perform this bunch of pop songs with great, talented and beautiful
people. I do feel so much younger in a way...
mwe3:
What was it like growing up in Montpellier with your late, great brother
Jean-Claude? Just looking back on your band with Jean-Claude, can
you tell those listeners who might not know about Coincidence a little?
When did you and Jean-Claude decide to form a group together and can
you share some of the memories from the two albums you made with Jean-Claude
and Coincidence? Do you feel those albums were kind of ahead of their
time and why did you go back to pure jazz music roots, instead of
jazz-rock, when you went solo in 1983?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I was born in Algeria, which at the time
was a French colony. I arrived in Montpellier / France when I was
10 years old. The change of environment was drastic, and my mother
died 2 years after, so I must say that the very first years are not
so happy to remember.
Things went better, of course, later on and I got used to my new hometown.
I had a lot of friends, I went to school and university with no problems
and life went on as they say...
My brother Jean Claude and I began to be interested and become involved
in playing music quite early, in the 1960s, and guitar was our choice,
easy to bring around, great to sing along with, ideal for gathering
with friends. Jean-Claude, who was 4 years older than me, began to
play as a semiprofessional before me. I remember of course going to
the gigs where he was playing.
In the mid 1970s we decided to write tunes of our own and start a
band together with friends. The name Coincidence was chosen...
The name suited French and English languages.
After a
few changes concerning the lineup and after quite a lot of gigs actually,
we decided to record our first album, which was very well received.
We had a good review in Guitar Player which we thought was great.
My brother and I were happy about it, it was like a dream came true!
This album allowed us to increase the number of gigs and to go abroad
which we couldnt really believe... Quite shortly after that,
we began to work on another album. We recorded it without mixing it
and went to Germany for a 10 day tour.
A few days after we got back, Jean-Claude died. I felt so sad and
in despair after that as you may imagine...
I mixed the album a few weeks after with the sound engineer and it
was released. It also got very good reviews.
A few concerts were organized for the promotion and memory of Jean-Claude.
That was the end of a dream.
I dont know if these albums were ahead of their time. Im
not the one who can talk about that...
After
Coincidence things have never been the same. Its like the real
band thing was behind me.
At the same time, as I mentioned above, I got into listening to a
lot of jazz and became quite inspired by this music, which led me
to compose new jazz-rooted pieces. I decided to go solo with my new
stuff. That brings us to my album Coincidences, as the name
is a last reference to the past...
mwe3: What was it like studying at the guitar institute in
Los Angeles in 1981? When did you go to that school, how long did
it take you to graduate and what was your experience like in L.A.?
Is that where you met Joe Diorio and how did Joe impact your own guitar
playing and composing and how about the other musicians and teachers
you met back in those days?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I went to the guitar institute about
3 years after the Coincidence days. I had to change my mind first,
change my environment altogether, and I wanted to work and concentrate
a lot on my guitar playing.
I had a great time there and did learn a lot with great players. I
have to mention Pat Martino, Ron Eschete, Howard Roberts, Don Mock,
Les Wise, Dan Gilbert, Jay Graydon, Carl Shroeder, and of course Joe
Diorio, who is a monster player and a very deep human being. He did
inspire me a lot and still does!
I also learned a lot from other students, some of them Im still
in touch with.
It took
me a year, exactly two semesters, to graduate. I also had the pleasure
to receive 2 special awards. I had a great time in L.A. , it was so
different for me being European. The weather and surroundings reminded
me a lot of where I was born.
mwe3: I thoroughly enjoyed working with you on the CD Breakthru
Records release of your music in 1988 and 1989, the French Guitar
Connection CD, which is still such a masterpiece. Perhaps we were
a little ahead of our time! Any reflections on that CD and of course
the two albums from which the music was chosen, your first solo album
Coincidences and Brussels as well? Will those two albums
come out on their own on CD at some point?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I really enjoyed working with you too.
French Guitar Connection was my first CD, thanks to you! My
2 first solo albums, released on vinyl separately before, and never
on CD since, were gathered on it along with bonus tracks. This CD
was particularly well received in Europe where I got great reviews.
Most of the people hadnt heard of the band Coincidence or had
forgot my relation to it, so this release was the beginning of a new
career for me. Thanks to it, I got into the jazz circuit and toured
a lot with the J.P. Llabador quartet, presenting, quite frequently,
different lines-up. I really enjoyed to play with many musicians and
be on the road with them.
mwe3:
I wanted to publicly apologize for messing up the back tray card on
the second CD we worked on together from 2007, Coincidence: Then
& Now. I guess I got rusty a little and I didnt pay
attention when the CD plant sent me the wrong information! Its
such a masterpiece and I was happy we got the sound right at least!
Will those albums, the three albums, the two Coincidence albums from
the 1970s and the 2007 CD release of New Incidences ever be
reissued again? Can you say something about the CD cover art on the
Then & Now CD? I know, as we were planning the CD, we were
speaking about and remembering your brother and my dad, and in fact
the CD set was devoted to both of them.
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: After many years of releasing jazz orientated
albums, each time with a different format, from duo to 15 pieces orchestra,
I felt so surprised in a way and honored we could work together again
and, cherry on the cake, on a project concerning the release on CD
of the Coincidence music from the 1970s. Rebirth! I felt so glad,
particularly for my brother who doesnt even know what a CD is,
and whos far from even dreaming of any interest more than 30
years after! Music helps people stay alive and eternal. We have had
quite a few problems with the sound and the original tapes, but I
felt great we could resolve all these technical aspects. Its
been a joy for me to associate your dad to this rebirth album too.
Im sure they both rest in peace and feel so happy about all
this!
On this album
we added new music from a group I led at the time called New
Incidence, which I felt suitable to go along with the Coincidence
music.
The artwork was designed by a very close friend-artist of mine, Patrick
Singh, who knows about most of my life and experiences. I think he
did a real nice job being in the knowledge of what was behind...
Theres no project of a reissue so far, but who knows what the
future will be like... Ive been so surprised in the past that
I never say never anymore!
mwe3: What have you got planned for 2013 and beyond? Are you
planning to record another Voices album or are you perhaps
inclined to return to your jazz-rock and instrumental rock roots?
JEAN-PIERRE LLABADOR: I already mentioned that my next new
project will be an all-guitar instrumental solo album. Thats
something Ive never done before and I feel its about time
to go for it... Ill use re-recording quite a lot. Ill
also be using a lot of different guitars, acoustic and electric, 6
and 12 strings.
I feel its a big challenge to be alone with yourself in a studio...
I also hope the music will touch everybody and not only the guitar
fans, which is another even bigger challenge...
The
music will be really open to all my likes and influences, with no
barriers what so ever, so youll find rock, jazz, jazz-rock,
pop, folk and who knows... music you cant even name, which Id
like a lot!
At this time theres no new Voices II album planned in
the near future, but I m sure the time will come when Géraldine
and I feel ready for it. Thanks for your interest! God bless everybody.
Thanks to Jean-Pierre Llabador @ www.llabador.com
{photos top to bottom: Jean-Pierre with shades, Jean-Pierre
with Suzanne Llabador, Géraldine
Llabador b&w, Suzanne
Llabador b&w, Voices promo picture, French Guitar Connection CD
cover, Coincidence: Then & Now CD cover, Voices promo picture
2, Give Me Five CD cover, Jean-Pierre with cow}