Romain Berrodier - Up There (2021)

Coming from a family of musicians, Romain Berrodier has been immersed since his childhood in music for which he was passionate about very early on and it was quite naturally that he chose to make it his profession. It was while watching his father play that Romain Berrodier started playing the piano at the age of 8 in music school. And it is by accompanying his singer mother that he will begin to live from it at the age of 20, between concerts and piano bars: "The best of schools!" ".

In 2007 he joined the Bill Evans Academy to perfect the harmony he was already fond of. His versatility then allowed him to become one of the benchmark pianists in the French variety. He goes on tour with Marc Lavoine, Rose, Grand Corps Malade and many others. Today he is one of the most requested and appreciated accompanists on stage, in the studio or on TV sets.

At the same time, Romain Berrodier perfected his skills in jazz, music dear to his heart. He composes, sits there the bases of his vocabulary, and thus finds his own sound, his musical signature.

Romain Berrodier's music oscillates from one universe to another. We meet the influences of Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, or Brad Mehldau, all on a lyrical, refined and delicate framework, modern in places, but resolutely classic both in form and in substance. Romain Berrodier delivers here an accessible, melodic jazz with a subtle touch. We can detect through and through this form of romanticism, cultivated by the pianist and which can also be found on the cover.

The recording conditions were deliberately perilous: barely two days in the studio, no rehearsals and no more than three takes per piece! Tribute here to André Ceccarelli, whose unique and incomparable broomstick game undoubtedly made it possible to meet this challenge. “It had to work right away, accept to put ourselves in danger a bit, and stay in this form of new impetus. "Holding his breath, listening to each other but succeeding in playing liberated, such is the bet that Romain Berrodier tried to take up, because this trio, contrary to appearances, had never played together before.

Of the eleven tracks on the album, two are sung. The first with the singer Anne Sila, who became known to the general public in "The Voice" and accompanied by Romain Berrodier on a pretty piano-voice tour in 2017. Bewitching and extremely musical, Anne Sila sings jazz and wanders here with elegance on the chords subtly spelled out by the pianist, in a universe which is reminiscent of Chet Baker on I Fall in Love Too Easily. The second track is led by Xavier Druot, a singer usually pop / rock who here takes on the role of crooner on the standard Blame it on my Youth. André Ceccarelli will say after the first take with his southern accent "And why don't I know him? ". The choice to highlight the voices in the mix comes from the love and respect that Romain Berrodier has for the accompaniment of the singers and the "song" in all its forms.

Why record a record so late? "I believe that everything happens when you are ready, there is just a moment T when things have to freeze, and when you accept that you cannot change them anymore." This is the dilemma with which Romain Berrodier had to struggle before accepting the idea of ​​fixing, recording and finally etching his emotions. This is probably also what prompted him to make this first album in such an instinctive way. If asked, he will probably say that everything comes to him from above, from her, from Linette, his grandmother to whom he dedicates here When You Wish Upon a Star, a Disney classic, she is like a star who has always guided him and who continues to watch over him. "Everything comes from above but nothing falls from the sky."