Ilene Martinez - Plume (2024)

This album was created in France during the pandemic, while Ilene was planning to return to her home country, the USA. She had been working on songs for months on her guitar and recording the initial demos. As an artist affiliated with Bayou Blue Radio, we spoke with our friend Maxime Perrin on the phone and sent him the files. Soon, a meeting was arranged in the small village of St Mars de Locquenay, where Ilene lived. This was during the lockdown, people drove little, and birds walked peacefully on the roads. In this absolute silence, the first rehearsal took place. It should be noted that since her first album « Reasons » in 2020, a long-standing friendship with Maxime Perrin had developed, allowing the project to start with his natural enthusiasm.

During these rehearsals, Maxime told us about his friend Olivier Cahours, an extraordinary guitarist who had worked with many people in the jazz world, including Ibrahim Maalouf. A month later, Maxime arrived with Olivier. He was extremely friendly, highly professional, and they instantly clicked. Together, they worked through all of Ilene’s songs. The project began to take shape, and Olivier’s ideas combined with Maxime’s formed the perfect musical duo for this project.

You may remember the story about the birds walking on the road. Among ourselves, we called them "Plumes" (Feathers), which became Ilene's nickname and later, the name of this album, in reference to that early pandemic period.

Since her first album in 2020, Ilene’s music has leaned towards jazz, folk, and pop. The same is true for this new album, Plume, but Ilene Martinez navigates a bit more into jazz, especially toward the end of the album, perhaps drawing on the land of her ancestors, where the blues gave birth to all other forms of music. Naturally, this album creates a bridge from the previous one, leaving behind her concerns of that era. Plume is both lighter and more intense, offering as much humor as poetry and reflection.

Ilene's unique voice, which has captivated the South of France for over 20 years, continues its journey in the USA. This new album also features guest artists. You will hear clarinetist Samuel Theze, and a longtime friend, the excellent trumpeter Mickael Gashe, also featured on Elvis Costello’s 2020 album « Hey Clockface. » In addition to trumpet and flugelhorn, you'll hear him play a medieval instrument, the “serpent,” a wind instrument shaped like a snake. The album is crafted like a Dalinian novel, full of twists and turns that could have been appreciated by the jazz trumpeter, singer, and novelist Boris Vian. Entering the world of Ilene Martinez’s album « Plume » is like crossing the Atlantic to go to the USA—bringing a piece of European culture into a folk/jazz universe that sets the tone for Ilene's future career, where we may one day speak no longer of folk/jazz, but simply jazz, as art leads each person towards their destiny.