©Lise Godard
The unlikely encounter of two instruments, one high (a flute), the other low (a tuba) was conceived by Pierre Scheidt, director of the Garonne Fife Festival at Saint Pierre d’Aurillac. It is extraordinary to listen
to this open and generous dialogue of composition and tradition, convention and improvisation, between Jean-Luc Thomas and Michel Godard. Here we are at the crossroads of traditional music, jazz and
contemporary music.
Born near Belfort (France) in 1960, Michel Godard soon established himself as an extraordinarily versatile exponent of the tuba, pursuing a career in jazz and classical music.Today he is one of the most virtous tuba and serpent players in Jazz as well as in improvised music.
Michel Godard’s tuba performance is fantastic in every sense: his technical skill is astounding, his tone clear and warm, his ability to produce overtones («multiphonics») and his musicality leaves the listener surprised at how light a seemingly cumbersome and heavy-weight tuba can sound.
In 1979 he picked up also the ancestor of the tuba, the serpent, an instrument with a name derivated after its form – looking like a coiled snake. The serpent’s ivory mouthpiece gives it a characteristic warm and intense tone. With this «second» instrument, Michel Godard has taken yet another step in broadening the field of expression in ancient music as well as in Jazz. Since 2002, Michel Godard is the serpent teacher at the «Conservatoire national de musique» in Paris.
Jean-Luc Thomas is a musician traveller who at the same time cultivates his own Breton roots and undertakes voyages to discover sounds and people across the world (Kurdistan, Ireland, Brazil, Niger, Poland, etc.)
His work on Breton traditional music and his encounters with other musical genres make him a musician with a rich and inspired style of playing.”
Translated from the France Musique radio broadcast “Couleurs du Monde” (Colours of the World) May 2011.
In 1989 Jean Luc discovers the ebony flute. Self taught fluteplayer, he was among the first generation of musicians to integrate this instrument into festoù-noz groups (Traditional Breton dance music).
Through practice in Brittany and numerous trips in Ireland, he has acquired a strong technical knowledge and has developed his own style.
He likes to bring people together and engaged them in an artistic and musical experience. Nowadays, he moves through rich musical environment from traditional to classical via jazz with Breton and musicians and dancers from others cultures.