Denis Badault is Gilles's alter ego in the show. He studied the piano and composition at the Conservatoire, before falling in love with jazz listening to Oscar Peterson, and going on to nourish his eager curiosity with Armstrong, Taylor and others. Through Silex records, he met Philippe Krümm: he, too, has always fought against unnecessary categorisation. Denis was invited to provide the orchestrations, or rather arrangements, for Gilles's show at the festival. He, too, works on the staging of the pictures and texts, and aims to arouse all sorts of emotions in the audience,

" rubbing them up the right way, but also the wrong way ", as he puts it. Charming and provoking, and sometimes taking pleasure in sliding onto slippery ground... With his drummer, François Merville, and his double bass player, Olivier Sens, his objective is not so much to champion jazz as to defend improvisation, both individual and collective, which will play an important part in the proceedings. " I feel as much a child of jazz as of classical music, " he says, " but it's a good idea to clear out when you come of age. "

learn more about this show at the program

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