On Stage
TOURS WITH JEAN-MICHEL JARRE
I began working with electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre in 2004 as Musical Director for his concert in Beijing’s "Forbidden City" played live on TV to an audience of 600 million Chinese viewers. After which, I played with his band in over 200 concerts all over the world, from the Gdansk shipyards in Poland to the Moroccan Sahara desert dunes, for the Sotchi Olympics and in Saoudi Arabia as well as at the Coachella Festival touring the USA and all around Europe's most prestigious venues....including the 2024 Paris Olympics !
For the last 20+ years I have had the chance to play concerts with JMJ in very unusual and amazing places but this one was really a "once in a lifetime" experience. Adi Chase and I backed JMJ at the Stade de France Olympics site for the closing ceremony to an audience of 80 000 spectators and athletes, broadcast worldwide to millions of network viewers. A real treat in spite of the pouring rain! (our gear survived :-)
Since 2004, we have toured with JMJ, played in the most amazing places around the world, from Beijing to Coachella and on May 12th, 2024 in Bratislava (Slovakia) which I believe was the best show JMJ has ever conceived and performed. It was successfully produced for a live audience of more than 100 000 + TV broadcasts, streaming networks…
The presence of Brian May made the concert even more phenomenal. One song in particular was the most challenging to play: Brian May’s tempo free expressive version of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” that all we performed live, JMJ, Adi and I backing him with our synths. When you really have to concentrate and focus on your part and the moving guitar part of a true guitar legend, to make it the exceptional musical moment it turned out to be :-) That’s what I call a real treat and probably one of my best of all time musical experiences.
The presence of Brian May made the concert even more phenomenal. One song in particular was the most challenging to play: Brian May’s tempo free expressive version of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” that all we performed live, JMJ, Adi and I backing him with our synths. When you really have to concentrate and focus on your part and the moving guitar part of a true guitar legend, to make it the exceptional musical moment it turned out to be :-) That’s what I call a real treat and probably one of my best of all time musical experiences.
Jean-Michel Jarre, Adi and I performed on Bastille Day, July 14th, 2024, at the Francofolies Festival in La Rochelle, France. This annual event, held in the picturesque French coastal town, featured JMJ, Sting, Phoenix…. in a vibrant, festive atmosphere. Since this venue showcases mostly singers, JMJ decided that for the closing performance we could work on a new arrangement of the French hit song “Les Mots Bleus”, originally performed by long time friend, French artist Christophe. Jarre didn’t compose the song but wrote the lyrics, demonstrating that he is also a great lyricist. We adapted the song for this year’s new female revelation, Zaho de Sagazan making her debut appearance at the Francofolies. A very special moment that we all shared with the audience.
