fighting for martial love

This week (9 - 13 October), France 2's 1PM news did a daily segment following three participants in this year's Concours Martial Solal. Click on "Feuilleton: 'le son d'impro'" in the window on the right to skip to the segment.

Sébastien is technically very impressive, but manages to come across as a jerk at every appearance.

I actually have both of Wajdi Cherif's albums. The first one, especially, is an enchanting piano trio arabo-jazz blend.

Ilan leads kids as young as 7 down the evil paths of improvised contemporary music. His scores and playing utterly confound the competition's accompanists.(each contestant is accompanied by the same bassist and drummer and has 10 minutes to acquaint them with their composition). Ilan seems like a great, free-spirited guy (the gloves, the rodeo shirt, the customised stool). In the first episode, a friend of his provides a delectable background pipe smoking shot. Will his unorthodoxy be accepted? What will Martial say?

Solal himself is also featured, of course, talking and playing.

The brief excerpts from the final are scary, and not necessarily in a good way.