Upside Down Blues Shyfrin Alliance

• 1The Cage04:34
• 2Unconditional03:14
• 3I See Your Eyes04:06
• 4Upside Down Blues03:44
• 5Conversation with Love03:37
• 6Shakespeare Blues03:17
• 7G-d's Number Blues03:31
• 8Bridges of Paris04:06
• 9To Your Soul04:06
• 10Lockdown04:17
• 11Cheval Blanc Blues03:45
• 12Whiskey Blues03:49
• Total Runtime46:06

Info for Upside Down Blues

Introducing the award-winning scientist and businessman Eduard Shyfrin with his life-afrming debut album Upside Down Blues - a modern blues rock classic.

A personal crisis can be a curse or a blessing, either plummeting the victim into despair or forcing them into making change for the good. After years as a successful businessman, mathematician and physicist, Eduard Shyfrin had a crisis that prompted a life-changing revelation. A whole new way of thinking was born as the award-winning scientist embarked on a steadfast pursuit of meanings and purpose, research and writing bestselling books – all of which has culminated now in his debut album, Shyfrin Alliance.

In this album of intoxicating rock, blues and romantic balladry, written entirely by Eduard himself, you won’t find songs devoid of meaning. These 12 tracks brim with the messages of unconditional love and antiwar – themes which resonate on a timeless level but no more so than today.

I try not to write meaningless lyrics without a message - I’m not interested in that,” Eduard says with a dismissive flick of the hand. “For me the message - the lyric - is very important.

When it came to the vocals, he had tried to find a singer who could convey the emotions and messages of his songs, but failed. “There are a lot of people with a very good voice, but it is most important to produce an emotion that touches people’s hearts, not the ears. If you manage to touch the heart – the soul – that’s success. My lyrics and my music came from my soul, from my life experience.”

He sought the advice of the manager of his music project, the Cannes-based jazz singer Lizzy Parks, who suggested that he apply his own distinctive bass baritone to his songs. Eduard followed her advice, and started practising. After some training, he can sing notes which usually only operatic basses can reach. Of the record’s 12 tracks – recorded at Paris studios Barillet, Ferber and Grand Armee – he sings nine.

One song in particular harks back to his early exposure to jazz: the gorgeous piano and saxophone-drenched sultry number ‘Cheval Blanc Blues’. And there is balladry in ‘I See Your Eyes’, ‘Unconditional’, ‘To Your Soul’ and ‘Conversation with Love’. The cabaret jazz-infused latter – intended as a Frank Sinatra-style ballad, and featuring the honeyed vocals of Lizzy Parks – is about someone who has not felt love for a long time and is grappling with whether or not to trust it. “It’s about the nature of love,” explains its writer. “Love can kill, and love can heal, love can be from hell or from paradise.”

‘Unconditional’ was inspired by the love of his grandmothers, with whom he grew up in the small apartment. It was the fastest song Eduard ever wrote. He had decided to take some lessons in public speaking to ease the tenseness he could feel when lecturing on Kabbalah and science, and in one exercise was asked to imagine the place where he was born.

“Then my soul went to the apartment where I grew up, 60-something years ago. I had a fantastic feeling of warmth and happiness. It was a happy place where I was loved unconditionally.” He came back home from the session and wrote the music and lyrics in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, ‘To Your Soul’ encapsulates the inevitable obstacles to romantic love, and the innate drive to reach it.

That the songs span such broad genres is down to Eduard’s life-long thirst for music, but also his scientific mind. After all, he says, Pythagoras discovered that music was intrinsically linked to mathematics, and could be used to manipulate and create moods. “So I realised that any kind of music is for a purpose. There is music for dancing. If you’re at a disco, you want to hear popular songs. If you want to meditate you might want nice jazz…”

The goal was simply to write good music – and nothing predictable. For this mathematician is all too aware of the science of writing a song and the obvious chord combinations. And everything, he says, must be bigger than the sum of its parts, in line with the scientific concept of holism. “The composition is an indivisible whole between music, lyrics and vocals. If you’ve managed to strike bingo and great holism, then it will strike people,” he says.

Basile LeRoux, guitar
Dominique Bertram, bass
Jean-Baptiste Cortot, drums
Frederic Gaillardet, keyboards
Yannick Soccal, saxophone
Lizzy Parks, vocals

Basile LeRoux
Real name Christian Leroux, Basile Leroux is a French stage and studio guitarist, born in Dijon in Burgundy.

He has accompanied renowned artists such as Higelin, Joan Pau Verdier, Eddy Mitchell, Yves Simon, Patrick Juvet, Marc Lavoine, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Julien Clerc, Alain Souchon, Pascal Obispo, Céline Dion, Maxime Le Forestier, Salvatore Adamo, Michel Jonasz, Véronique Sanson, Jane Birkin, Patrick Bruel and Thomas Fersen.

In addition, he was one of the founding members of the French prog rock band Transit Express with David Rose, Dominique Bouvier, Jean-Claude Guselli and Serge Perathoner.

A true guitar virtuoso, he is a fan of the Fender Stratocaster guitar models (equipped in particular with Lace Sensor pickups supposed to reduce residual noise) and the Fender Telecaster, although he sometimes plays on the Gibson Les Paul as well.

Dominique Bertram


Influenced by Otis Redding, rhythm and blues and passionate about jazz-rock, Dominique Bertram was the bassist in Zao, Neffesh Music and Alien Quartet before meeting Christian Vander to join Magma (Live à Bobino 1981).

His path crossed that of Eddy Mitchell and Patrick Bruel in his two flagship tours, of Laurent Voulzy for Le Gothique Flamboyant Pop Dancing Tour and of Liane Foly (Live Acoustique au Palais des Sports and Une Etoile Dort ) as well as collaborations with Renaud, Michel Jonasz, Catherine Lara, Nicole Croisille and Véronique Sanson with whom he continues to tour.

He was the bassist for the first Enfoirés tour and has participated in several Taratata, notably to accompany Al Jarreau, with pianist Michel Petrucciani. and was commonly seen on guitar with Mino Cinelu, Khalil Chahine,Thierry Eliez and Franck Monbaylet.

Very active in the jazz world, he composed two solo albums Chinese Paradise in 1985 (with Manu Katché, Jean-Yves D’Angelo, Kamil Rustam, etc.) and Bass Now in 1992 (with Loïc Pontieux, Michel Gaucher,Thierry Eliez) and created an electronic project for bass and guitar, that has since been completed and rewarded in particular by the 2010 Lépine Competition.

Jean-Baptiste Cortot


Jean – Baptiste Cortot began playing piano at the age of 6, then, studied and played classical percussion from 8 to 18 years old. He came to Paris France in 2005 where he collaborated with French artists such as Daniel Levi, Oxmo Puccino, AaRON, France Gall, Amel Bent, Veronique Sanson, Chris Stills, Ziggy Marley, many of whom he continues to perform with to date. Healso features as the drummer for “La Nouvelle Star” (“American Idol” French version). Influenced by Steve Gadd his stylistic influences range from classical to jazz, funk, pop… and many more. Endorsed by the prestigious symbol mark ‘Zildjian’ he affirms that he favorite drum combination to play is a 3 crashes, 1 ride, 2 HH, 3 or 4 effects cymbals set up.

Frederic Gaillardet


Pianist, Keyboardist, accordionist and arranger Fred Gaillardet, studied at the Bayonne and Bordeaux Conservatory. Endorsed by Yamaha and nicknamed ‘Fredo, he has become one of the most requested musicians on the French scene. Previously on stage with Sinclair, Manu Dibango, Laurent Voulzy, Raphaël, Hélène Ségara, Laurent Voulzy, Les Enfoirés and Ayo among others others, he currently tours with Véronique Sanson having featuring on her latest album and is the pianist and arranger on ‘The Voice’ (French version).

Yannick Soccal


Originally from Monaco,Yannick studied violin, saxophone, music theory and harmony at the Monaco Music Academy and at the CNR in Nice. He continued his training on an internship with Lee Konitz and Eddie Henderson, and participated in a festival with the “Monaco jazz all stars” in North Carolina where he played with trombonist Curtis Fuller (who plays on the album Blue Train by J. Coltrane).

In 1996 he began his career in Paris and performed in several concerts with Christian Vander’s group Magma and composed, among other things, the soundtrack for a documentary on Wayne Shorter for the Arte channel. He was part of drummer Loic Pontieux’s group and recorded on his album “Le voyage d’une plume”.

He has accompanied international artists like the Bee Gees, Robbie Williams, Duffy, Karl Barat, the Temptations, during TV shows and concerts, as well as French artists like Charles Aznavour, Johnny Hallyday, Serge Lama, Michel Jonasz, Amel Bent, Patrick Bruel, Christophe Maë, Laam.

He plays regularly in the orchestras of the shows “Star Academy”, “Dancing with the Stars”, “The Voice”, “N’ez-don’t forget the lyrics”, several times in the show “Taratata” with can be seen live on stage withVeronique Sanson,Andrew Strong and Karl Barat.

Lizzy Parks


Originally from the south of England, Lizzy caught the attention of the UK jazz scene with her 1st & 2nd self composed albums ‘Watching Space’ (2005) and ‘Raise the Roof ’ (2008) released with the indie record label Tru Thoughts. With early features on Ninja tunes artist, saxophonist Chris Bowdens ‘Slightly Askew’ album and collaborating with the like of producer/singer/songwriter ‘Fink’, she has performed with the likes of Nostalgia 77 and the prestigious ‘Heritage Orchestra’ as featured vocalist, at music festivals worldwide and with several European tours, she became a favourite on the BBC6 music scene.

With an early education of jazz Saxophone and Clarinet, her self confessed first love was with jazz vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan from who she took influence in scat singing and completed a degree with honours in jazz at The Birmingham Conservatoire.

Now based in the south of France, Lizzy continues to perform, as well as providing voice overs for tv and radio and is a prominent musical educator.

This album contains no booklet.