Eric Legnini and The Afro Jazz Beat - Sing Twice! (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

In 2011 The Vox, Eric Legnini made a record whose very title further emphasised his desire for a promi-sing future. This jazz-leaning album often flirting with pop earned him a Victoire du Jazz. In 2013, our leading man is staying on course with Sing Twice! Ten gifted fingers – or thirty including drummer Franck Agulhon and double-bass player Thomas Bramerie – and three capital voices: there you have the magic formula (spiced up here and there with a brass section, a funky guitar and afro-jazz-beat percussions) that brings everything together. The vocalists include, firstly, British singer Hugh Coltman. He became a band member in his own right, as attested to by the three superlative themes on which his singular tone – ranging from dandy overtones through to a falsetto blues – gives this album its multi-layered and unique soul-pop personality. Two female vocalists who also share the spot, bare their souls on this record, adding their own complementary colours: Mamani Keita from Mali, in a more evident afro-funk vein, and American-Japanese singer Emy Meyer, with her clear folk touch.
Recorded over two days in spring, polished over a month this autumn but in preparation for over a year: it all started on the road, on the tours that took the trio to the four corners of the earth. One can still feel this first live layer in the deep organic vibrations. The tracks had been developed in a live setting and then worked on again and again. And thus the clear outlines and highly melodic approach never prevent harmonic detours and rhythmic eruptions. Your work can be devoted to serving the voice without neglecting the dynamics of the trio. It’s all in the subtle proportions. Production, a key factor in this, was taken on by Eric, as a great admirer of Danger Mouse, Grizzly Bear and Daniel Lanois, not to mention one of John Barry’s most faithful followers. He used vintage keyboards to materialise his ubiquity: organs from the seventies (Eko, Farfisa), analog synths, effects pedals, beats programming via old drum machines, Fender Rhodes but, above all, a good old piano…
No doubt Sing Twice!, from its very conception, makes its intentions clear: it is a pop-edged jazz album and a jazz-adorned pop album. Take “Snowfalls” for example, a real anthem that should take fans of Radiohead and E.S.T. back to the good old days! Or “Only For A Minute”, a vocal imbued with the protective spirit of Stevie Wonder, draped in a folk atmosphere. While “Yan Kadi” elegantly follows in the footsteps of papa Fela and “The Source” is in fact a Griotte’s veiled tribute to “Africa Brass”, “Cinecittà” closes this collection with a distinct nod to his native Italy, while also showing this arranger’s respect for all the film music greats. Eric fully owns up to these many references and reverences, just as he does unreservedly to playing jazz.


Tracklist:

01. Sing Twice!
02. Salisbury Plain (feat. Hugh Coltman)
03. Snow Falls (feat.Hugh Coltman)
04. Yan Kadi (feat. Mamani Keita)
05. Winter Heron (feat. Emi Meyer)
06. If Only For A Minute (feat.Hugh Coltman)
07. Carmignano
08. The Source (feat. Mamani Keita)
09. We Love Shibuya
10. Cinecittà
bonus tracks
11. Salisbury Pain (Instrumental)
12. Snow Falls (Instrumental)
13. Yan Kadi (Instrumental)
14. Winter Heron (Instrumental)
15. If Only For A Minute (Instrumental)
16. The Source (Instrumental)

Personnel:

Eric Legnini - piqno, keyboards, percussion, compositions;
Franck Agulhon - drums, percussions;
Thomas Bramerie - double bass;
Hugh Coltman - vocals (2, 3, 6);
Mamani Keita - vocals (4, 8);
Emi Meyer - vocals (5).