THE MUSIC: Rather than re-arranging the composer's pieces one after the other, Johane Myran had the idea of setting to music the walk Satie took every day between Montmartre and Arcueil, where he lived and during which he composed. - - The orchestra represents Paris, the piano Satie and music explores the relationship between the districts he travelled through and the musical ideas that crossed his mind as he travelled. . - - Three original compositions, Montmartre, Châtelet and Arcueil mark out the circuit where Gymnopédies, Ogives, Vexations, Sports and Divertissements cross. . . . - - - - ERIK SATIE: Erik Satie (1866-1925) was a French composer and pianist born in Honfleur. Satie took an early interest in music and entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13, but was considered a ‘bad pupil’ and escaped by joining the army, from which he was discharged due to illness. - - The musician moved to Montmartre in 1887 and began composing works with unusual and comical titles, including the best-known Ogives (1887), Gymnopédies (1888) orchestrated by Claude Debussy and Six Gnossiennes (1890). He worked alongside the Symbolist movement with Mallarmé, the Impressionist movement with Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet, and the Dadaist movement with Tzara, Breton and Aragon, for whom he became an unwilling mentor. - - Today, Erik Satie is considered a precursor of several movements, including neoclassicism and surrealism. - - - - THE ORCHESTRA: The Red Star Orchestra is an 18-strong jazz big band whose conductor Johane MYRAN writes the repertoire, which consists entirely of original arrangements and compositions. Created in 2009, originally to revive the great jazz band scores, the Red Star Orchestra quickly became a creative orchestra, with a first project in the company of guitarist Ninine Garcia, which unfortunately was never recorded. In 2011, Johane Myran, Olivia Ruiz's accompanist at the time, suggested that she put together a repertoire of 50s standards, with original arrangements. The result was ‘Olivia sings for the Red Star’, an album released by Polydor Universal in 2012, followed by a short tour of European festivals. Remembering his years at the Conservatoire, Myran suggested that Thomas de Pourquery try his hand at the big band, and the saxophonist took up the challenge, singing on the ‘Broadways’ project, to be released by Label Bleu in 2016, a sort of collection of musical tales based on the best-known jazz standards, to be performed at the most prestigious French festivals. Building on these experiences, the Red Star Orchestra is now one of the few major orchestras to offer resolutely modern music, borrowing from the language of jazz, free jazz, contemporary and electronic music.
