.: Thierry "Titi" Robin :.

NEW:
"KALI SULTANA l'ombre du ghazal"
show on tour and CD available
from autumn 2008!

(Louis Vincent)

"One of the most interesting French gypsy guitarists today" Los Angeles Philharmonic / Hollywood Bowl " "Gitans" was not only ranked as one of the best albums of the year by critics around the world, but it is widely considered one of the best albums of Gypsy music ever recorded." Dan Rosenberg, The Gypsy Road Thierry Robin, known as “Titi”, the self-taught musician born at the end of the fifties in western France, has created a musical world for himself instinctively assimilating elements in response to his need to express himself. The two worlds in which he has navigated daily and that have both directly and deeply influenced him are the gipsy and oriental cultures. Before the World Music trend was born, these communities were open and encouraging to him while French mainstream music struggled with his approach. Arab and gipsy community celebrations provided him with the opportunity to test his original musical sound against these rich traditions from which he took his inspiration while never imitating them, obstinately looking for the best way in which to express himself as a contemporary artist. The musicians accompanying him were almost all from these minority groups. The two artists of major importance to him were the flamenco cantaor Camaron de la Isla and the Iraqi master oud player Munir Bachir.
		photo Louis Vincent

At the beginning of the eighties he began to compose in an extremely personal style that has stayed with him since. In 1984 he produced himself (playing the guitar, the oud and the bouzouki) in a duet with Hameed Khan, the Indian tablas player from Jaipur, performing both on stage and in local festivities, clubs and oriental restaurants. His repertory (instrumental) grew little by little, just as the foundations of his improvisational style. An album : “Duo Luth et Tablâ”, that is no longer produced and has become a collector’s piece, bears witness to this original universe.
		Duo Luth et tablâ, with Hameed Khan (photo: D. Meuriault)

In 1987, a strange group entered the musical scene in Angers: “Johnny Michto”, a mixture of Moroccan Berber rhythms, electric bouzouki, rock bass guitar, clarinets and bagpipes; an attempt to offer the public something other than the rock groups that proliferated, by bringing together the folk cultures of the group’s members. Once again, it would be the North African community that gave the band the warmest welcome, the “born and bred” French finding it hard to take on board this novel style.
		photo: Christine Bartaud

While working on the instrumental duo with Hameed Khan, mixing melodic improvisations and light-hearted rhythmical duels, Thierry Robin met the Breton singer Erik Marchand, a representative of what he considered to be the richest folk and traditional culture to be found near his region of birth. Together they would develop a repertory of compositions using quarter tone modes and the marriage of the Taqsîm style of oriental modal improvisation and the Gwerz, the very ancient monophonic lament that the singer is one of the few to preserve alongside Yann Fanch Kemener. Ocora Radio-France sent them into the recording studio: “An Henchou Treuz” (1990) was awarded the Charles Cros Academy Grand Prize. It was the beginning of the meeting of two duos that would turn into the “Erik Marchand Trio”, for which Thierry Robin composes and arranges the best part of its repertory. This highly original group composed of a Breton singer, Arab lute player and a specialist of the Indian tablas (as a matter of interest, a photo of the group illustrates the first article on “world music” in the Encyclopaedia Universalis), performed a great deal, from Womad festivals to stages presenting contemporary music, from the Paris Théâtre de la Ville to the Quartz in Brest, and the jazz scene that greatly appreciates their innovative approach to improvisation. They also toured abroad, from Quebec to Houston, from Marrakech to Jerusalem. In 1991 the first “Erik Marchand Trio” work was released : “An Tri Breur” on the Silex record label.
		photo:

With this group, Titi Robin had become known above all as an oud player. “Gitans”, released in January 1993, would better define the musician’s world, introducing the bouzouki and guitar player. It is a homage by the artist to the gipsy community that taught him so much. A mosaic of encounters between artists dear to Titi Robin, representing the various branches of this great family, from Northern India to Andalusia, via the Balkans, from which he draws his personal musical vision. Guest musicians : Gulabi Sapera (vocals), Bruno el Gitano (vocals, palmas, guitar), Mambo Saadna (vocals, palmas, guitar), Paco el Lobo (vocals, palmas) François Castiello (accordion), Hameed Khan (tablas), Francis Moerman (guitar), Abdelkrim Sami (percussion), Bernard Subert (clarinet, bagpipes). This record, and the ensuing group, met with a large audience of both erudite music-lovers and amateurs of Mediterranean music. “Gitans” toured from Japan to the Hollywood Ball (USA), from South Africa to Europe’s major World Music festivals. At the beginning of 1996, “Le Regard Nu”, an instrumental record entirely improvised and the outcome of a year of experimental research was released, breaking away from this remarkable collective adventure. Thierry Robin took inspiration from the poses of women models, just as a painter or a sculptor, to fuel his solo musical improvisations on the oud and bouzouki. This unique album remains one of his great pride and joys with admirers from across the planet. Gitans’ tours continued, giving rise to “Payo Michto” in 1997, a live album with Francis Varis playing the accordion.
		Gitans (photo: )

Titi Robin was looking for a path along which he could create ties with modern Western folk music. The result was a new group, whose orchestration included the saxophone, drums and bass. It’s name : “Kali Gadji ”. The ever-present gipsy and oriental influences mix with French rap and Western African polyrhythms. Guest musicians are Renaud Pion (saxophones), Abdelkrim Sami (vocals, percussion), Farid “Roberto” Saadna (vocals, guitar, palmas), Jorge “Negrito” Trasante (drums), Gabi Levasseur (accordion), Alain Genty (bass) and Bernard Subert (oboe, bagpipes). This orchestra toured for many years alongside “Gitans”. In 2000 “Un ciel de Cuivre” was released, an album that Titi Robin believes best represents his musical universe in all its diversity. Fifteen guest musicians include Farid “Roberto” Saadna, Gulabi Sapera, Keyvan Chemirani, François Laizeau, Renaud Pion, Negrito Trasante, Francis-Alfred Moerman,… Speaking of this album, Titi Robin said : “This new record is not performed by a precise orchestra, unlike PAYO MICHTO or KALI GADJI, that precede it. It bears witness to the diversity of my influences and, I hope, to the coherency of my aesthetic universe. Gipsy cultures, both Mediterranean and Balkan, are still very present, but this is above all a personal vision of the world that I want to express through these musical marriages that make up my everyday life. This album, just like the record GITANS released in 1993, is a voyage, each melody has a particular flavour, each rhythm a story, the geography of its cultural origins is a mirror image of the traveller’s inner landscape. There are intimist melodies and festive rumbas, grief-stricken chants and a gipsy lullaby, highly-orchestrated dance music and calm trios, snowy mountains and sunny shores, blood, spices and honey, and many other things that you may discover before I do…”.
		In studio at Waimes (photo: A. Von Buxhoeveden)

From then on, a sextet toured continuously, presenting tracks from this record alongside older compositions.
		Sextet (photo: Véronique Guillien)

An instrumental trio also began to perform (oud, guitar, bouzouki/accordion/percussion) with Francis Varis and Abdelkrim Sami, drawing from Titi’s entire repertory. They played mostly abroad, especially in the Middle-East. Since 1992, Thierry Robin has constantly worked with Gulabi Sapera (famous in India as "Gulabo") , about whom he has even written a book “Gulabi Sapera, Danseuse Gitane du Rajasthan” (2000, Naïve/Actes-Sud). She was a frequent guest performer at Tit’s shows and the songs “Pundela”, from the album “Gitans” and “La rose de Jaipur” from “Un ciel de Cuivre”, illustrate the extent to which the encounter between these two artists was an emotional one.
		Titi and Gulabo in Jaipur (photo: Véronique Guillien)

In 2002 a work by both artists was released : “Rakhî ” dedicated to the union of their respective worlds using songs from the cast of the Kalbeliyas, the snake charmers, of whom Gulabi is the emblematic and internationally renowned dancer. "JIVULA", a show uniting her choreography and Titi Robin’s compositions, took form in September 2002 and was performed on numerous French and international stages. With lighting specially created by Pascale Paillard, this new scenic venture was given a very warm reception.
		with "Gulabo" at the Café de la Danse -Paris 2002 (photo: Bill Akwa Bétoté)

In the same year he composed the entire soundtrack for Manuel Boursinhac’s film “The Code (La Mentale)”. The director wanted Titi’s musical world to accompany his images, while the artist learnt much from this new adventure that he hopes will happen again.


2004: release of the anthology ALEZANE by Naïve. Presentation of “Alezane” by Thierry “Titi” Robin: “These two records are a selection of recordings made over a period of a dozen years, but draw from some twenty-five years of compositions. In my preceding albums, I have always tried to bring together dance and intimist tracks in the smoothest possible way. Here, on the contrary, we present a panorama by categorising the tracks as either rhythmic tunes (CD I) “Le Jour”) or calmer ones (CD II “La Nuit”). The true challenge is to express, within an artistic system that has rather more imposed itself on me than been chosen by me, my path as a contemporary musician, all the colours and scents that envelop and go through me. I invited Eric Roux-Fontaine to work on the visual aspects of this project. Eric is a contemporary creator, painter, photographer, involved in gipsy cultures for the past dozen or so years. He agreed to undertake the entire graphic conception of this double album.”
		photo and painting: Eric Roux-Fontaine

The same year, Eric Roux-Fontaine asked Titi Robin for a series of poetic texts for his book RAJASTHAN, un voyage aux sources gitanes”, published by Garde-Temps. Using writing as a tool, Titi continues his aesthetic research.
		from "Kalakars Colony" (Eric Roux-Fontaine)

KALI SULTANA l'ombre du ghazal KALI SULTANA L’ombre du ghazal Nouveau spectacle original de Titi Robin / Nouveau CD Automne 2008 – durée : 1h45’ Francis Varis : accordéon, écriture des cordes Ze Luis Nascimento : percussions Kalou Stalin : basse Renaud Pion : clarinettes, saxophones, écriture des cordes Maria Robin : chant, danse Anne Berry : alto Aude Marie Duperret : alto Véronique Tat : violoncelle Titi Robin : ‘oud, bouzouq, guitare, composition, direction artistique Qui est la Kali Sultana ? Où et comment la rencontrer ? C’est à ces questions que Titi Robin répond dans son nouveau spectacle. Pour ce promeneur sans papiers ni frontières, qui arpente inlassablement depuis trois décennies le chemin poétique, philosophique et mystique reliant l’Inde du Nord à l’Andalousie, la Kali Sultana est cette incarnation féminine de la grâce, cet idéal de beauté après lequel courent les innombrables musiciens dont il a eu le bonheur de croiser la route. Elle est cette muse universelle, cette figure imaginaire et pourtant omniprésente, dont tout créateur rêve d’embrasser l’indicible et insaisissable splendeur. Elle est, pour citer le poète Hafez de Shirâz, "comme la nouvelle lune qui éclaire doucement le chemin des égarés, puis se retire sous le voile des nuages." Avec sa guitare, son bouzouq ou son ‘oud, Titi Robin n’aura lui-même jamais cessé de poursuivre cette recherche, depuis le bassin méditerranéen, où il aura découvert très tôt la richesse musicale des communautés gitanes et arabes, jusqu’à l’Asie centrale et les Balkans, où sa soif de découverte et de volupté l’aura naturellement porté. Kali Sultana, le spectacle, est donc à la fois le récit de cette quête et un portrait en mouvement de cette créature impalpable et flottante, dont les traits se dessinent au gré de la musique. C’est aussi, comme toujours avec Titi Robin, un périple intérieur commun au musicien et au public, à travers les sentiments que révèlent les enchaînements et les mariages de mélodies et de rythmes, de compositions et d’improvisations, de danses et de chants.Accompagnés en fond de scène d’une projection de peintures évoquant les différents ciels que rencontre le voyageur sur sa route, les thèmes musicaux, comme toujours essentiellement des compositions de l'artiste, se suivent sans interruption, plongeant le spectateur dans un véritable bain sonore et visuel. Une expérience sensorielle singulière, qui épouse et reflète le "regard nu" et panoramique que Titi Robin porte sur le monde. Pour mener à bien ce projet, qui résonne à la fois comme la synthèse de trois décennies de vagabondages et comme un nouveau point de départ, Titi Robin s’est entouré des compagnons de route qui l’escortent fidèlement depuis plusieurs années. Le bassiste Kalou Stalin et le percussionniste Ze Luis Nascimento apportent leur sens de l’écoute et leur science innée du rythme. Maria Robin, la fille de Titi, se fend ponctuellement d’interventions chantées et dansées aussi gracieuses qu’incisives. L’accordéoniste Francis Varis et le souffleur Renaud Pion (flûtes, saxophones, hautbois…) apposent sur la trame musicale toute une palette de nuances et de vibrations. Tous deux se partagent en outre les arrangements de cordes. Titi Robin poursuit en effet sur scène l’approche esthétique engagée dans ses deux derniers projets discographiques, l’album « Ces Vagues que l’amour soulève » et la bande originale du film « La Mentale » : il fait à nouveau appel à des instruments à archet (les altos d’Anne Berry et Aude Marie Duperet et le violoncelle de Véronique Tat), dont la mission est de donner à sa musique ce qu’il décrit joliment comme "un manteau pour l’hiver". "Les cordes sont là pour habiller le corps de la musique, le mettre en valeur et non le camoufler, explique-t-il. C’est donc une coupe sobre, discrète, qui se fait oublier. Ainsi vêtue, la musique n’a plus froid : elle respire, sourit et ose s’épancher." Avec Kali Sultana, Titi Robin s’épanche en effet comme jamais : il rend hommage à ce langage musical sans cesse réinventé, dont il a hérité en se baignant depuis des années dans ce long fleuve qui s’écoule depuis le nord de l’Inde jusqu’à l’ouest de la Méditerranée. Car il existe bel et bien un courant esthétique continu et puissant, une connexion profonde qui relie le Rajasthan à l’Andalousie, via les Balkans, l’Anatolie, l’Irak, l’Iran ou le Pakistan. Une flamme entretenue depuis des siècles, autant par les cultures gitanes nomades, qui n’ont cessé de fusionner avec les mondes sédentaires traversés, que par l’inépuisable vitalité des formes populaires méditerranéennes et orientales. Cette histoire, dont Titi Robin est lui-même devenu l’un des acteurs et l’un des conteurs, constitue l’incandescent fil rouge de Kali Sultana. Elle rappelle que, sans de généreuses et fructueuses confrontations, les musiques gitanes, arabes, orientales et européennes n’auraient pas développé l’intarissable faculté d’invention qui est la leur. "Vouloir nier ou ignorer cette réalité est l’un des gros mensonges actuels, affirme Titi Robin. Aujourd’hui, je veux nommer cet héritage." Dans son spectacle, Titi Robin montre enfin que cet héritage dépasse même la seule sphère musicale. "Les cultures gitanes ne sont qu’un révélateur, explique-t-il, elles créent le lien entre l’Orient et l’Occident. Mais ce qui compte, c’est le sens de tout ça, souterrain mais essentiel : c’est une philosophie du monde. Je ressens intimement que les Gitans ont secrètement véhiculé la pensée soufie, c’est-à-dire la jouissance dans la recherche de la beauté, et l’incarnation de cette quête dans tout ce que la vie comporte, de la violence à la tendresse, de l’amertume à la douceur." En célébrant la Kali Sultana, Titi Robin rejoint et prolonge cette pensée, qui court depuis l’Inde jusqu’à l’Europe, depuis les ghâzals – cette forme poétique orientale très populaire - jusqu’à la poésie andalouse, et à l’ombre de laquelle sa musique a pris racine et prospéré. "L’ombre du ghâzal, c’est ça, comme une poésie instrumentale. Au moment où les mots sont impuissants, la musique prend le relais, comme disait Fürtwangler." Ce que rappelle éloquemment Kali Sultana, c’est que la beauté est un dédale sans fin. L’explorer, la sonder, ce n’est pas se retirer du monde ni perdre la vie. C’est au contraire s’engager dans l’existence avec tout le poids et la richesse des émotions qu’éveillent ce genre de démarche. "Des milliers de fois, j’ai plongé dans cette rivière sans fond, mais c’est dans un trou d’eau que j’ai trouvé la précieuse perle", dit le Qawwal. C’est à cette expérience à la fois intime et extrême que convie le nouveau spectacle de Titi Robin.
		project Louis Vincent

Thierry “Titi” Robin is a fringe artist. He is placed within a “World Music” movement that he does not acknowledge, as it seems to him to be motivated by a profound ethnocentricity, creating a barrier between Western “ethnic” music (rock, jazz…) and others! For him, the crossing of music is not a value in itself, but quite simply a reality, his reality. The main thing is to find the right path between the feeling giving rise to the creation and the artistic form used to express it, whether it take a purely traditional form or one that explodes all established codes. Forging his own path, he has taken heed of the encouragement given by eminent artists such as flamenco singers Fosforito and Chano Lobato, as well as the virtuoso oud player Munir Bachir, who have seen in this atypical approach sincerity and authenticity that go well beyond any differences.
		photo: Bill Akwa Bétoté