"Free, Always and Forever ..."
First opening of cages doors ... 2011...
Gilles LE REST, drummer ... Laurent SKOCZEK, trombonist ...
Friends since their childhood spent in Lorraine (North-East of France), they’ve always had the very same goal : Get Free, Get Oxygen, Share, Be Moved, Celebrate with Music …
FREE HUMAN ZOO was born after their first band ODYSSEUM (Joce Mienniel, Jef Sicard, Emmanuel Guerrero, Nicolas Grammosenis) was shelved. Odysseum was a “worldly“ adventure, in love with West-African Muses.
FREE HUMAN ZOO is at a crossroad, from the rockiest path to the softest one,
where wishes meet, where emotions mix, where few walk with neither calculation nor analysis, where it is easy to find yourself alone, alone but so glad to walk differently on a different path, which could be called “the Hybridisation Way“…
Long pieces, where narrative tableaux succeed to each other … Impression !
Omnipresent rhythm, cyclic, organic ... Impulsion !
Harmonic structures, improvisations, respirations ... Oxygenation !
Where can we find this ZOO ? Always in an unexpected place ... Exploration !
Time matters no more ...
Fashion matters no more ...
Farewell Rules !
Lets get free, and even freer …
With one single goal: EMANCIPATION !
Make Instinct and Intellect come together …
Give Birth to an Animan, a Humanimal ...
To tell us Stories, to give us a complete World ...
A loving World ...
Not much Technicality, no Strength demonstration,
Feelings … Only Feelings ...
As a Gift … Just to share ...
The musicians :
Next to Laurent and Gilles, Nicolas FEUGER (bass) is the first musician to join the FREE HUMAN ZOO. His way of playing, all at the same time round and full brings an obvious steady base to the bass/drums duet, while giving space to harmonic and melodic surges.
Almost at the same time (2011), Samy THIEBAULT (tenor sax and flute) cleverly decides to join the new born band too. With a joyful and powerful Coltranian way of playing, his chants are always unexpected. Samy is the strong link between the artistic universes of the FREE HUMAN ZOO and the jazzclubs.
Samy is a major player of the Jazz scene in France and is a permanent surprise leading big bands ("Upanishad Experiences“), paying a great tribute to the Doors ("A Feast of Friends"), playing unexpected introspective pieces such as his crystalline "Rebirth" (2016), his amazing and swaying "Caribbean Stories“ (2018) or his so polyphonic "Symphonic Tales" (2019).
Patrice KORNHEISER (piano, keyboards) is another founding member of the band. Having been a longtime choirmaster, he was of great importance to the set up of the orchestra, through a rich and solid way of playing mixed, with a romantic and very latin creativity.
Dan DECRAUZE (guitars) joins the band around the same period. His solid experience as a music film composer, gives him an uncommon palette of sounds, where introspection meets mystery and extremely energetic and distorted surges. For "FREEDOM, NOW !", Dan mastered and taped all the guitars bits, including the beautiful introduction for "Amour moteur, Matrice“ (“Love as a Driving Force, Love as a Matrix“).
Gildas MARTIN is a generous and prolific guitarist, precise and very creative, finding his inspiration into the Zappaian opus. He honoured the band by his presence during the recording of their first EP "Aïki Dõ RéMy“, in 2014.
In 2015-2016, the band welcomes two new musicians :
Matthieu ROSSO is a perfectly versatile guitar player, always searching for the “unexpected“, the “unheard“ thing. He offers the band a new energy, both airy and poetically “underground“. Always looking for innovative music, Matthieu is also the leader of the “RED QUARTET“, and takes part into the superb “Symphonie d’une Nuit sans Etoile“ / “Symphony for a Starless Night“ (Dédale Music).
Emmanuel GUERRERO (piano, keyboards) is a real groovy melodist strongly influenced by latino-american musics. He is a Rhythm player from the very bottom of his soul.
A highly experienced sideman in the jazzy universe just as much as collaborations with Céline DION or Patrick FIORI. New inspirations for the band. Polychromatic and oxygenated. In the Summer 2018, Manu surprises everyone with his wonderful “Nuevo Mondo“, a deeply inspired album in which childhood memories are a stepping stone for a bubbly and sprightly music full of an Andean strength.
(So) Laurent SKOCZEK is, from the very beginning, the trombonist, the arranger, the scribe and the FHZoo webmaster.
(So) Gilles LE REST is the composer, the drummer-percussionist-vocalist and, "eventually" (!), the artistic director of the FHZoo.
In Autumn 2021, after more than a year of « covidian resistance », the FREE HUMAN ZOO have (for the first time of its rocambolesque history) the honour to cross the boundaries and accept the fraternal invitation of the FREAKSHOW Festival of Würzburg (FRG). On this occasion, and with open joy, the group welcome four new musicians, almost all of them from the boiling and very fertile prog-rock/minimalist music scene :
Camille PETIT : a prolific composer and very inspired pianist, with a rich and impressionistic range of sounds, co-leader of the groups Ghost Rhythms and Lady With, Camille quickly opened to all the different forms of current musics, cultivating an obvious tendency to the exploration of different genres and styles. With classical training, his favourite playground remains the emergence of a successful dynamic originating in the relationship between composition and improvisation. His arrival within the group stimulates our quest for a living and moving music aiming at diversification.
A passionate and exciting bassist and double bass player, deeply moved by the quest for a full and generous, tonic and deliciously dancing sound, Béla is a particularly eclectic musician, and he has been able to develop a real singularity in his playing, a singularity marked by a phrasing that is at once "groovy", "melodic" and particularly precise. Co-creator of the trio ANOESIS, Béla also discovers himself as a composer, just as he accompanies -as a sideman- the pianist Dimitris Saroglou, the Big Bass Band of Frank Nelson and the singer Tiny Mess. He has also worked with the video designer Darius Vernhes and the DISSONNANCES orchestra, and since September 2020, he's consolidating his approach to the double bass at the Essen University Conservatory, in the Niek De Groot's class (Germany).
Matthieu METZGER, in a nutshell : versatile, exploration, sharing. A saxophonist, composer, director, musicologist and electronic instrument maker, Matthieu has studied the saxophones with Philippe Di Betta for sixteen years before joining Daniel Yvinec’s ONJ, Louis Sclavis’s quintet and Marc Ducret’s Grand Ensemble while developping his talents at film direction (« Tower » by Marc Ducret, Rhizottome’s albums, Arthurus d’Archer’s opus among others). Open to any meaningful experiences, you can unsurprisingly find him in good company : the Ictus ensemble, the Inspiration Baroque project, the surprising Japanese-French quatuor Niwashi no Yume, the Amarillis ensemble or else Rhizottome. Always unexpected, always in search of…, Matthieu is equally attracted to the social and poetic aspect of the music and the technical means to bring it to life. What a healthy momemtum !
The newest in the FREE HUMAN ZOO, Alexis DELVA joined the group during winter 2020-2021. Born in a family of musicians (his parents, Emmanuelle and Jean-Max being the wonderful co-founders of Anaïd), he has built from an early age a strong musical culture and the will to practise an instrument naturally came to him when he was six. Right from the start, the guitar « calls » him and this is a great love story which begins with the six-stringed damsel. Since then, he’s tried every neck, acoustic or electric, while building his theoretical knowledge (CIAM in Bordeaux) and his practice in joining several groups of Metal obedience. His long-distance navigation, sailing from jazzy shores to the most rock-ish estuaries (Jeff Beck, Guthrie Govan, Allan Holdsworth, Shawn Lane) teaches him the most perfect versatility and gives to his playing style an energy, a dexterity and a cheerful swiftness. His always unexpected and « organic » phrasing, the way he makes the pieces his own, brings to the group some brightness, some musical positivity as well as a real « field enthusiasm ». A musician to discover urgently !
Day by day ...
In 2013, the FREE HUMAN ZOO is happily and luckily supported by Stella VANDER and Francis LINON through their label Ex-Tension Records. A cooperation that materialises through FHZ’s first EP (digital version) in February 2014 (“Aïki Dõ RéMy“ , a tribute to Rémy SALVAT’s great energy, that was recorded at the studio MESA -77- thanks to the talented and stubborn Charles FROSSARD). A great thank you for their constructive artistic support and their help in the production choices. In September 2014, it’s thanks to them again and to Christian VANDER, that FHZ was invited to perform on the Triton stage (in Les Lilas-Paris) as the opening act for MAGMA/OFFERING.
A generous way of mentoring FHZ ...
Let us deeply thank the film maker Michel OCELOT ("Kirikou", "Azur and Asmar", Nord-Ouest Production), who allowed the band to use Asmar and Kirikou’s mum profiles for their pictures.
So be gratefully thanked the WWF France (for letting Gilles use their panda’s figure on his bass drum), through Raphaëlle GOLDENBERG, Julie VANDER and Hervé CHARLET (Seventh Records), the SACEM, the FCM (and more specifically Aurélie HEUX and Raphaëlle AUGEARD), PIAS/Harmonia Mundi, BERTUS Distribution France, the ADAMI (Francois BONCOMPAIN), Dominique LOHNHERR (MFA), the SCPP (Aurore MOURAO, Lucie FAGETTI and Sandrine MORLET), MPO Direct France (Sandrine BOURD), the Val d’Oise’s Departemental Board (Habiba IDERRAIS and Fabrice HUBERT), the Combo 95 (David PHELIPPE) and the towns of Presles (95) and Hettange-Grande (57).
"But let’s not forget Georges PACZYNSKI (and his enthusiastic humanism), Simon GOUBERT (for his friendly guidance), Jean-Paul MELINDJI ("so groovy"and enthusiastic "Biguy", who believes in the human being like nobody else !), Jean-Paul DAROUX (our friend and nevertheless musical poet), Xavier NAPORA (for his sharing and his great energy), Jean-Christophe ALLUIN, Karl-Heinz HEIDENREICH and Anders BLYSTAD (always so concerned), the TRITON’s team (including Jimmy, Jean-Pierre and Jacques VIVANTE), the SUNSET-SUNSIDE (Stéphane PORTET and Agnès MINETTO), "LA BAGUETTERIE-Paris" (especially Oscar, Laurent, Régis, Romain, Peter, Mazid, Stéphane and Philippe), the BOPCITY studio (Max JESION and friends), the GRAND CERCLE/Eragny-sur-Oise (Clément TAVONI and Cédric SEMPE), the FNAC at Les Halles-Paris (Sébastien TRANCHANT), and Cyril MANCHET, our great piano tuner.
Of course, a warm thank-you for our generous images makers : Christine SAVINI, Sabine SKOCZEK, Christian LE REST, Stéphane ROUPPERT, Sébastien SCHILLINGER, Jeff HUMBERT, Guillaume LECOMPTE-BOINET, José FERNANDES, Fabrice JOURNO et Alain LEPAGNOT.
We cannot forget the permanent, passionate and unfailling support of the ODUSSEIA’s members (Christèle ROUSSELOT, Sabine DUVIVIER, Véronique, Chloé and José FERNANDES, Sophie RAHOUI, Corinne LAVEN and André LEVITTE), our production structure. Neither can we not be grateful to the members of the sister-association "Regards Croisés" (Manue VACA and Klaas HUIZENGA, Yamina LE ROUX, Jean-Marie GUILLOTIN, Gilles MONSILLON ... and all the others that will recognise themselves …)
As well as the excellent English translation of these lines, the wonderful work of our friend Corinne LAVEN, herself supported by Jérémy QUARTERMAINE, and relayed by the equally excellent David HERBEZ, the « man-smile ». Merci beaucoup for these precious supports.
And of course, of course (!!!) : a great thank you to YOU, YOU all ! You who support us, You who are always there, You who belong just as much to our anthropo-musical adventure, You who give us unlimited Hope ...
For you, my Friends ...
Those without who ... ... ... ..." G
“FREEDOM, NOW!”, 2016
This album was made between 2014 and 2016, and would not exist without the efficient and artistic help of Marcus LINON, sound engineer. He acted almost like a 7th musician in the FREE HUMAN ZOO. His talent allowed us “the best“.
He friendly welcomed us in his mythical Kramus Deluxe/GREASY RECORDS studio, where everything is at its top. He took part into the emancipation of the project, by adding sounds coming from “somewhere else“, by his unique way of mixing and recording, and by his fabulous patience.
Working by his side will have been an amazing experience for all the members of the band.
And that is how "FREEDOM, NOW !" was born.
The album cover is a piece of art created by Gérald NIMAL, a graphic designer (http://www.adlib.fr/) who managed to put our ideas to life with a lot of poetry and subtlety.
An infinite thank you to them.
G
"NO WIND TONIGHT ...", 2018-19
"NO WIND TONIGHT ..." , or the crazy adventure of a double album …
A musical epic where the colours of the sounds are those of Hope ...
The quest for a hybridisation fully lived and loved …
Built around “Bab’Y“ a long musical piece about memories, this new album is the ultimate confirmation of the extremely hybrid aesthetic of the band. It insists on the deep and shared desire to tell new “little stories“, “slices of life“, unexpected encounters, always keeping in mind the profound desire to remain free …
“That’s one of the reasons why, from January to Summer 2018, we were so lucky to work side by side with Vincent MAHEY and his team (Arthur GOURET, Nathanaël, Fatou, François and Nicolas -studio SEXTAN-La Fonderie/Malakoff-), a team of sounds carvers always ready to support a musical adventure, always sincerely caring for the poet-composers that we try to be, always moved when the music is given birth, whatever kind it may be …
The happiness was, we hope so, shared on both sides.
Together, we tried to achieve the best balance as possible between a purely acoustic recording and a powerful “pop-rock“ one, as much in live as possible. Vincent and Arthur have this rare talent to be able of a “sound compromise“ which we much appreciated.
We were also very privileged to have special guests several times :
Camille FRITSCH, spontaneous but with an under control let it go, who accompanied us with her voice on Curritur ad Vocem ...,
Jocelyn MIENNIEL, joined us with his outstanding flute on several pieces of this double album …
Bruno ORTEGA, the always smiling-eyed man, and his bass recorder. Serene and zen !
And Jonathan EDO, enthusiastic and invigorating, who spiced with his percussion, other moments of our opus.
During the recording of "NO WIND TONIGHT ...", we welcomed three benevolent and talented photographers : Jeff HUMBERT, Stéphane ROUPPERT and Christian LE REST.
In October 2018, Marcus LINON (GREASY RECORDS Studio/Montmagny), mastered" NO WIND TONIGHT …" A quest for excellence to get a “full, polychrome and invested sound“. His final was just as unexpected as well balanced.
From September to November 2018, we worked on our cover and booklet with the so inspired Gérald NIMAL, graphic designer (AD LIB Communication Multimédia/Tresboeuf). A master es-patience who understood perfectly what we had in mind !
This very same Autumn we gave the final making-up of this double album to the extremely professional “ateliers MPO France“. Just as in 2016 for"FREEDOM, NOW !", it was a great pleasure.
"NO WIND TONIGHT ..."would not exist without the extreme tenacity of the FHZ musicians ; the unfailling support of the ODUSSEIA’s members, our production structure ; the backing of our friends from Ex-Tension Records ; the support of our financial partners (ADAMI, SACEM, Ministry of Culture) ; our generous donators through a crowdfunding campaign in Summer 2018, without who our project would have never come to an end.
Thank you to all those wonderful energies, who give us the ultimate motivation to move forward …
2021-2022, "THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND"
On October 24, 2021, fifteen days after the memorable concert in Würzburg (Freakshow Festival, Bavaria, FRG), the band enters again in studio, to record the first notes of its new opus : "THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND"
A perfectly libertarian album, of a hedonistic and sometimes "disheveled" lyricism, which will delight -for sure- the senses (the Essence) of the lovers of free music, powerful and poetic ...
And if "THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND" is a tribute to the eponymous work of Jules VERNE, as well as to the "Vendredi" of Michel TOURNIER, it's also -and above all- a heartfelt cry to the Italian maestro Gianni FERRIO, who inspired this composition (cf "L'Île mystérieuse", ORTF, 1973)
Let's tell it,
and to the Suite, inevitably jubilatory ! ...
Lots of love to you all,
And a great THANK YOU !
And may our modest musics accompany you all as far and as high as possible …
Lets blow the winds …
SURSUM CORDA ! “
(Lift up your hearts !)
G
