Hervé Celcal - Glass coco

Biography

Hervé Celcal

Hervé Celcal was born in 1975, in Martinique Island (France, West Indies), where he starts learning classic piano at the age of 7. He continues his lessons at L’école normale Alfred Cortot in Paris (France). He meets the french jazz pianist Bernard Maury, who is impressed by the musical maturity of this 20 years old man. 

In paralell with a career on stage and studio, with world music artists, as producer and sideman, Hervé developed a very personal project related to the tradition of his native island. 

In 2013, his first album « Bel air for piano » is ready : a very deep research about traditional music from Martinique : the « bèlè ». 

Within the bèlè, which is intimately linked to drums, Hervé introduces a novelty, the piano. Hervé worked at recreating the same sounds as the bèlè drum and evoking the melodious chants of the singer and « the repondè » (the chorists) with his piano. He introduces in this tradition all the modern aspects of jazz spirit too. 

The other particularity of Bel air for piano is that all the 14 pieces are written like classical pieces, that means they can be played by a concert performer. 

Glass coco

(by the composer himself)

With « Glass coco » that Hervé Celcal composed for Nicolas Horvath as a tribute to Philip Glass, 

the pianist offers a very modern « biguine » : 

the biguine is an evolution of the bèlè, 

meeting european music in the late 19th century. 

This piece is written in the spirit of Glass music, 

which is repetitive and based on a deep melodic sense ; 

two particularities that also characterize the bèlè.