Libres Raphaël Imbert & Karol Beffa

• 1Sweet Eternity03:11
• 2Créole02:49
• 3Solstice04:55
• 4Leipzig counterpoint03:19
• 5Puy Mary07:08
• 6Entre deux âges02:48
• 7Romance04:13
• 8Game Over03:18
• 9Tears05:39
• 10Léo07:40
• 11Le Toit du Monde01:00
• 12Libre03:31
• 13Lead Lied04:15
• 14Thuringe05:39
• Total Runtime59:25

Info for Libres

Mostly recorded as a concert in the magnificent church at Menet in the Cantal, „Libres“ is the fruit of an encounter inspired by a common passion for freedom, musical as much as intellectual. Karol Beffa and Raphaël Imbert have, however, followed very different career paths. The former is one of the most gifted composers of his generation, senior lecturer at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the youngest holder of the chair of artistic creation at the Collège de France (2012-13) and a prizewinner in the classical section of the Victoires de la Musique awards in 2013.

His works are played by orchestras the world over.The second is a self-taught saxophonist and artistic director of the Nine Spirit Company. Over the years, this „free electron“ has become a key figure in modern music, known for the sense of his writing and improvisation and for his research into music, jazz and the oral tradition. He is the author of Jazz Supreme, published by Editions de l’éclat, and his album celebrating Mozart and Duke Ellington (Heavens) was released in 2013 by Jazz Village.

Karol Beffa and Raphaël Imbert met through the Ensemble Contraste and immediately saw that they shared a taste for improvisation as a prime mover in the creative process and a path to freedom from stylistic constraints. For them, improvisation is a state of mind suited to creativity and curiosity and is almost a philosophy. From the start, the idea of performing as a duo seemed self-evident.

Karol Beffa, piano
Raphaël Imbert, saxophones

Raphaël Imbert
saxophonist and jazz composer, recipient of a ‘Villa Médicis hors les murs’ award for his research into sacred music and jazz, who won the 28th national jazz competition at La Défense in 2005 with his ensemble Newtopia. Selfmade man, Raphaël Imbert started jazz at Marseille Conservatory with Philippe Renault and met there regional musicans with whom he plays regularly (Emile Atsas, Jean-Luc Difraja, Vincent Lafont, Pierre Fenichel...). He wins with Jean-Jacques Élangué the first price of Marseille Conservatory and creates 2 groups "Hemlé orchestra" and " Atsas imbert consort", with whom he will play in numerous festivals (Vienne, Nice, Fiesta des Suds, Théâtre des Salins...). He develops his taste for composition and the most eclectic musical situations. He creates a vision of music and jazz connected to spirituality very essential to the jazzman approach. For this purpose, he creates « Nine Spirit » to play "sacred music" of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler and others, and to produce shows which are inspired by powerful texts written by Théodore Monod, Amadou Hampatê Bâ, Martin Luther King ... Raphaël Imbert worked on a study focused on the Sacred in Jazz and becomes recipient of Villa Médicis Hors Les Murs, managed by AFAA and the french foreign affairs ministry which enabled him to stay in New York during october 2003. Raphaël Imbert develops many teaching project in Marseille Conservatory, at Festival Cluny and Fai’art. He belongs to the Orchestre National de Jazz administration board since september 2004 and wins the 28th national jazz competition at La Défense in 2005 with his ensemble Newtopia. He writes music for cinema and television for Philippe Carrése et Isabelle Boni-Claverie projects. Raphaël Imbert manages 2 groups within the Nine Spirit Company, 2 records are released with Zig Zag Territoires Label : la Suite Elegiaque"with Newtopia Project (ZZT 061103) , and a special christmas album, Pieces for Christmas Peace with Sixtine Group distribution Harmonia Mundi.

Booklet for Libres