« This hackneyed saying of musicians everywhere was my declaration of intent, at least in the sense of my own contrary interpretation : a droll way to convey what I consider the role of a drummer, not only as " warden of rhythm ", but also as tunesmith and composer.
I started thinking of the drummer in these terms long before now. Back in Etron Fou Leloublan, I'd written several " songs for drums ", very different in conception from the infamous drum solos of the time, which drove audiences (by dint of sheer ennui) en masse to the bar. Les Batteries, formed in 1984 with Rick Brown and Charles Hayward, extended my thinking about drums, as here was a trio of drummers writing " short pieces for drum kit ".
In taking this line of thought still further, the idea of inverting the role of drummer vs. other musicians sounded promising : constructing a piece of music by starting with a strict rhythmic ground plan, as opposed to the customary approach of attaching a drum part last. This is what I set out to do with The Drummer Is The Musician's Best Friend. How each participant dealt with the " constraint " I imposed to him made for the intringuing and happy listening, and I have to say that the quality of results was everything and more that I'd hoped for.
I recorded 14 items on drums and sent them around the world to 14 musicians, who had total liberty to work with my rhythmic blueprint in whatever way they chose. Each item was composed with a particular musician in mind..... in order to be as immersed as possible in each player's unique vision... and also to pay homage to some musicians I very much admired.
For diverse reasons, 3 of the 14 musicians had to abandon the project, unfortunately ! The remaining 11 pieces comprise musical post cards from friends the world over. Thanks again to all those who lent themselves to the game !
At the last minute, I decided to round off this CD with one of the three " orphaned " tracks. Some listeners may enjoy speculating as to who the original recipient had been... and I invite all musicians to take up the challenge of this proposition in rhythm and send me their " finished " item on CD-R (Guigou Chenevier, Inouï Productions 26 rue des Teinturiers, 84000 Avignon, France). Maybe someday I'll have the material for yet another CD, " X " Variations on a Theme.
Dear friends of the drummer, the next move is yours ! »
Guigou Chenevier, April 17, 2003
(translation by Jonathan Thomas)
Co-production between Inouï Productions, Studio Centre Culturel André Malraux-Musique Action, Scène nationale de Vandœuvre-Les-Nancy
With the partnership of the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'azur
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