Randy Kerber & Jowee Omicil Y Pati

They were fated to meet. No doubt about that. But planet jazz is sometimes so vast it is hard to cross paths at the right time - all you can do is take your time and the blue notes will do the rest - those on the Komos label, for example. Randy Kerber was born in 1958 in Encino, California, and began the piano at a very young age. At 19, he embarked on a tour alongside Bette Midler. Then came tours with Lionel Hampton and Don Ellis, two major figures in jazz, rapidly introducing him to this music on the most sumptuous of stages (North Sea Jazz, Montreux, Juan Les Pins …). He then accompanied artists such as Quincy Jones, Barbara Streisand, B.B. King, Michael Jackson, Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox and Frank Sinatra. Yet it is in the world of cinema that Randy Kerber made a name for himself and his fingers by participating in over one thousand (1000 !) full length features. He played the solo in Forrest Gump, was featured in Titanic, in La la Land, and notably, orchestrated Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Dark Knight, The Legend of Zorro and The Color Purple. In total, he spent forty years at the service of others until taking part in The Eddy, a series on jazz by Damien Chazelle, in which he plays Randy, the pianist. This made perfect sense - he lives in Paris. Jowee Omicil, was born in 1977, in Montréal and is of Haitian descent. His mother passed away when he was five years old. His father, a pastor, encouraged him to attend music school when he turned 15. He began by studying the piano but quickly turned his attention to reed-based instruments - soprano and alto saxophone, clarinet…He has played with musicians such as Branford Marsalis, Richard Bona, Marcus Miller and Wyclef Jean. In total, he has released five albums as a band leader or in his own name, right up to The Eddy, Damien Chazelle’s series on jazz, in which he plays Jowee, the saxophonist. This made perfect sense - he lives in Paris. So Paris is where the two crossed paths. Crossed paths? It would be better to say that their worlds collided. “It was immediate”, remembers Jowee, “I had never experienced this before. It’s very hard to explain.” Randy adds: “With other musicians, we held back, things stayed on the surface. With Jowee, we listen, get on and understand each other, it’s mutual.” Antoine Rajon, from the Komos label suggested Jowee record a duet album with a pianist. Jowee jumped on the occasion: “There were two pianists I wanted to play with, Keith Jarret and Randy Kerber.” Randy accepted straight away: “I had been working for others for so long, that it was high time for me to play for myself. One collaboration led to another so quickly throughout all these years, that I never really had time to settle down. It’s different now that I live in Paris.” The two men joined forces at the Studio Pigalle in early July. They had composed but a few notes for three of the thirteen tracks which make up the Y Pati album. The rest is pure improvisation - fleeting moments, the desire to play, long dialogues, rambling duos, jazz antics, blues fantasies - a quick nod to Miles, a tribute to Jowee’s father and a tip of the hat to Randy’s daughter. Randy is sometimes sitting at the piano but more often on the Chamberlin, Osmose or the Continuum Fingerboard. As for Jowee, he has harnessed the sax - tenor, alto or soprano – the clarinet, cornet, piccolo flute and also sings, on occasion. The pieces have been recorded as they were improvised and imagined, without overdubs or retakes. Each track has a story which unfolded when it was created, stories recalled upon meeting again in September just before the release of the album. The Long way Home for example, revisits a piece imagined for The Eddy. It is the first track on the album. “Randy played it on the piano for the series, it appeared in my mind, so we worked from that memory.” On Grenadié, Randy opens fire on the Chamberlin before Jowee bounces in. “When we begin, we never really know where we’re headed”, insists Jowee. “But ‘Grenadié à l’assaut’ (get ready for action, grenade thrower!) was one of my dad’s expressions. A way of fighting for freedom. His approach inspired the track”. Lumière au bout du tunnel (Light at the End of the Tunnel) was constructed in the manner of a film scene. “In the end, the album was conceived as cinematic jazz, explains Randy. Soundtrack music without a film. Every time, we wanted there to be an incarnation, an evocation, images. On this piece, we have conjured up a progression leading from the shadows into the light.” J.C.O. is a tribute to Jowee’s father, Joseph, C. Omicil. “Randy deciphered the notes I had scribbled down and extended the piece. What Randy has played is marvelous. This is the first ever piece I have dedicated to my father. Up until then, I hadn’t reached his level. He would have approved of this one. Thankyou Randy.” Then, the two men go on their way, talking, smiling, as if they have always known each other. Randy kerber : piano and keys (Fender Rhodes, Chamberlin, Continuum Fingerboard and Expressive E Osmose). Jowee Omicil : vocals, tenor, alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, cornet, piccolo flute and Fender Rhodes.