It took eight years, but they got there. After countless hours of work, the songwriter Laurent Guardo and the interpreter Daniel Lavoie present these days their musical album on the poems of Rimbaud, Cassis river. “I had to adapt to another way of conceiving music,” says Daniel Lavoie.
The media were invited Monday afternoon to the Arsenal contemporary art in Montreal. On site, Daniel Lavoie was surrounded by four musicians, including Laurent Guardo on the piano. Two parts of the project on Rimbaud were interpreted, through works of contemporary art.
“I know what Léo Ferré and other songwriters had done with Rimbaud and I find that Laurent’s approach is perfectly original and very different from anything I’ve ever heard,” says Daniel Lavoie. Laurent never takes the easy way out. That’s what makes it interesting to me. »
It was in 2014, for his album The captive unicorn, that Laurent Guardo worked for the first time with Daniel Lavoie. Already, the collaboration had been very fruitful. “Daniel is not just a singer, he’s a poet, an extraordinary storyteller,” says the composer.
Chance
Stumbled upon poems by Rimbaud, Laurent Guardo imagined what they would be in the mouth of Daniel Lavoie. The result thrilled him so much that he worked to make it a full album.
“Daniel told me that he liked singing Rimbaud’s texts even more than mine! says the composer, laughing.
Cassis river was a long-term project, to say the least. Why did it take eight years to see the light of day? “First because there was no press,” says Daniel Lavoie. And Laurent is a very meticulous person, who redoes, reworks, changes things. But rarely for the worse. […] Laurent has put thousands of hours into it. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard on a record in my life. »
Solo tour in 2023
For the moment, no concert of this project on Rimbaud is announced, but Daniel Lavoie would see himself bringing it on stage. Until then, the singer is already thinking about his new solo tour which will get under way in the spring of 2023.
For this lap, which will mark the 40e album anniversary Tension attention, Daniel Lavoie recently chose the musicians who will accompany him. There will notably be Paul Brochu (UZEB). “He’s a drummer that I admire immensely,” says Daniel.
Laurent Guardo will also be part of the team, on percussion. “The only thing I asked of musicians was to be beautiful and make beautiful music [rires] “says Daniel Lavoie.
The projects will not be lacking next year for the singer. In January, he intends to go to Abbey Road studios, in London, with Laurent Guardo to record the musical project of his book Finutility.
He will also release an English-speaking folk album with his son. And he could sporadically join the troupe of Notre Dame of Paris for a few dates in the United States. “But I won’t do the tour, because it’s made too demanding. »
The Scrapbook Daniel Lavoie sings Rimbaud – The Blackcurrant Rivera musical project by Laurent Guardo, is on the market.