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Andy Emler is not a jazzman, rather an adventurer of the improvisation. For his numerous pieces, this turbulent pianist, fond of big bands, does not hesitate to draw his sound material from as various repertoires as the Basque, Danish, Tibetan, rock, funk or jazz traditions. His key-words: humor, jubilation and energy…Caution, it may mess up your hair!
Photograph : all rights reserved.
Andy Emler has not exactly covered the classical route of a good jazzman. It is rather the opposite. First, he discovers the music through piano lessons with a classical organist, a lady he has known from his early childhood (he was born in 1958). Being assiduous, he thus gets an astonishing technique … for classical music. Then, as a teenager, he is much more attracted by Genesis or Led Zeppelin than by Miles or Coltrane (to whom he hardly listens). The bands he then sets up play a music reminding some destructured rock-pop rather than hard-bop or even free jazz. In fact, his encounter with jazz will only take place at the music academy! Even in a roundabout way. Since, obviously, jazz is still almost banished in this noble house! But, fortunately for him, Andy Emler gets as a teacher one of the masters of improvised music (essentially baroque music): Marius Constant. It is not yet jazz, but it is coming closer. The “real jazz” (however rather free…), he gets to know it thanks to his schoolmate Antoine Hervé, who will become his friend. Together they set up a noticeable piano-vibraphone duo ( it is not yet a piano-bass-drums- saxophone quartet!). Then, finally, a quintet! The band is completed: a guitar (Marc Ducret), a trumpet (François Chassagnite), a bass (Philippe Talet) and a drums (François Verly). In a very baroque spirit, Andy Emler intends to stimulate with this band a spontaneous instrumentation and enhances each musician’s creativity and personality. In other words, this is jazz music, but jazz absolutely set upon the future! At the same time, he plays the keyboards of the big band led by his friend Antoine Hervé (1984-1985). Then, in 1986, François Jeanneau, appointed by the French Ministry of Culture to conduct the first Orchestre National de Jazz, invites him to join the first generation of French jazz music. Within this structure, Andy literally explodes. He composes two pieces for the orchestra, whose titles already express their explosive character: “Superfrigo” and especially “Motorcycle Nana” (no comments…)!
In 1990, Andy Emler starts again with a particularly eccentric octet: the “Megaoctet”. After an introduction of the synthesizer, the eight young accomplices (among whom the Basque singer with his astounding voice Benat Achiary) carry on impossible improvisations mixing up-dated hard-bop, electric funk and traditional Spanish music. Two incredible CD’s are then recorded: “Mégaoctet” and “Headgames” (at Label Bleu). Simultaneously, Andy Emler keeps experimenting within smaller bands, particularly alongside of Michel Portal, Joachim Kühn or Daniel Humair. From time to time, he also composes a masterpiece such as his concerto for tuba and wind orchestra created in 1996 “Tubastone”, which all made a lot of fuss (in all senses of the term!). Regarding his Megaoctet, it has become a band with a variable size welcoming during the whole decade young prodigies wishing to battle with improvisation.
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