Leo Tardin, left, is a noted jazz pianist collaborating with underground rappers.
By Tony Ozuna - For the Post
No-jazz, phuture funk, spoken-pop: These are the terms used by Leo Tardin, the leader of Grand Pianoramax, to describe his progressive, live electric piano trio, which merges live electronica and no-jazz (not jazz as you know it), with a manic drummer and a rotating cast of adventurous, rap-poet vocalists.
Originally from Geneva, Tardin won the first Montreux Jazz Festival International Solo Piano Competition in 1999. The next year, he graduated from the New School University in New York. But before these official recognitions, he had already been living in New York since 1996, studying and playing around the city with several groups.
"When I started to work as a musician on the scene in New York City, I definitely got to appreciate hip-hop culture, sometimes playing in the house band of historical places such as the Nuyorican Poets Café, a very famous spot for slam contests and spoken-word artists," Tardin tells The Prague Post.
Most of the vocalists Grand Pianoramax features are from the New York scene, some of the best spoken-word poets and underground rappers in the world improvising over his futuristic funk-blend of keyboards and synthesizer bass, with Swiss drummer Dominik Burkhalter keeping time. For their concert in Prague, Tardin is especially excited about their guest vocalist.
"We will bring one of the most charismatic and interesting underground rappers from Brooklyn: Black Cracker," he says.
Black Cracker is a two-time National Poetry Slam Champion and a leading figure on the New York scene, although he is currently based in Berlin. His solo recording, Tears of a Clown, has been described as "Basquiat meets Tupac in a fist fight with Joseph Beuys." In other words, raw street aesthetics meets raw vocal power with artistic verve.
"We've been collaborating for seven years now, and he's done other collaborations with groups like CocoRosie. These days, we always have him with us," Tardin says.
Improvisation is key to the energy and free-style approach of Grand Pianoramax's recordings and live shows.
Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com
features@praguepost.com
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