Recruited by Zo Fan, the video director of this project, I was the last one to get on this amazing journey to witness the birth of this album. Being a graphic artist with a limited jazz background, I quickly fell into the world built by Elastic Tribe.
After listening to the demo, I got really excited. The music is so rich and colorful like a kaleidoscope. It changes fast yet smoothly, like a kaleidoscope, taking me to an expected place with each musical sentence. This album is a wonderful thought-leading piece full of rapid emotional transitions.
The motif I chose for the cover is “hands”.
First, I want to honor the hands of the artists. Each finger is like an Olympic athlete, but they are not challenged for a gold medal; they are challenged by their own minds and hearts. The second meaning of the hands is the ability to manifest feelings and demonstrate skill. Combined with the smoke and flame, the images want to show how the artists play around with something wild and intangible. So I added a lot of movement and flow in the sketches. When the hands massage the smoke is like they are stretching and sculpting time, and thus music is created. And the fluid smoke and flame are like their spirits, radiant and flying elegantly. Their shapes are ever-changing and free.
I felt really fortunate to be working with Elastic Tribe, Zo Fan, and Fondeur DeSon. We shared a rare opportunity to turn the music into a tangible form during the time of the pandemic. This album will forever take a special place in my heart.
Elastic Tribe
Boris Blanchet: tenor and soprano saxophone
Jérôme Fouquet: trumpet
Matthieu Jérôme: piano
François Fuchs: double bass
Julien Augier: drums
Recorded at Studio Sextan La Fonderie
recording: Maïkol Seminatore
Editing: Thomas Augier
Mix & Mastering: Ananda Cherer
Label: Le Fondeur de Son
Graphic Art: Helen Ting aka Mosswater
Visual Art: Zo Fan
