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Leïla Martial is the uncrowned queen of French vocal jazz - if you can call jazz that combines theatrical and circus elements with the traditional music of nomadic pygmies, Inuits and gypsies, electronic and psychedelic influences with improvisational, experimental contemporary jazz. The mélange of Jardin des délices is as much everything else as it is jazz; what is certain is that Leïla Martial and Valentin Ceccaldi's new album opens up a fascinating imaginary universe. With astonishing vocal skills and boundless creativity, Leïla Martial uses a myriad of means to communicate her message: her voice caresses, hurts, makes us laugh or imitates the sounds of nature. In 2009, she became the first singer to win the best soloist prize at the Concours de la Défense. Her musical partner Valentin Ceccaldi has become famous particularly in bands co-founded with his brother Théo Ceccaldi, such as the African trance-jazz group Kutu, and has also recorded for BMC Records as a member of qÖÖlp and L'Arbre Rouge. Leïla and Valentin's duo FiL has been working intermittently for several years, but it was only during the pandemic that they found the opportunity to produce new material. The liberating power of improvisation and the strange experience of the fusion of genres have led them to create a dialogue between musical languages, regions and different chapters of music history through their arrangements. Out of six songs on the album, only Jardin des délices - not a coincidental reference to the famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch - is the duo's own composition. Three tracks are arrangements of classical arias and a Réunion folk song, while another is by Barbara, attesting to Leïla's multi-faceted identity. However, the arrangements and vocal acrobatics here are not intended to preserve tradition, but rather to create a fresh musical world from the existing building blocks, at once serious and light, tender and powerful, graceful and bold.

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