MODERN TIMES

 

Modern Times is an album that reflects technology’s profound effect on music, but don’t mistake artist Marc Antoine for a gadget geek.  “I’m very bad with technology,” the French guitar virtuoso says with a laugh.  “Don’t send me an email – you will never get a response!”  It’s a humble remark from Antoine since he recently teamed up with dance music producer David Ferrero to create an album that mixes the organic sound of a nylon string guitar with electronic beats, distinctive samples and mellow lounge grooves.  “I was looking for somebody in touch with new music, ethnic music, chill out sounds,” Antoine recalls.  He is deeply entrenched in Brazilian, Spanish and classical music and was ready to deliver it in a new way.   Much like Thievery Corporation, fellow Frenchmen Gotan Project and Chambau, a chill out flamenco act, Marc Antoine is taking jazz to the next level – to the radio, to the dance floor and straight into the soul.  Modern Times is the future of jazz.

 

Though Antoine was born in Paris, he constantly moved around the world to pursue music and culture.  He started playing guitar at age eleven and the instrument quickly became a kind of third arm for him -- he claims he doesn’t remember life without a guitar in his hands.  After recovering from a physically devastating accident at age 19, the tenacious artist plowed forward with his career, starting to play jazz and Afro-pop in smoky Paris nightclubs, embracing the cross cultural world of music.  Possessing the chameleon-like versatility of a great session player, Antoine next got involved with the London-based Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and delved into the city’s feverishly growing acid jazz scene.  His work with the RPO lead to an appearance on the landmark debut album by Soul II Soul, on which the RPO served as the string section for the new groove group.

 

A move to Los Angeles found his strings gracing recordings by forward thinking artists like rapper Guru’s Jazzmatazz project, Solsonics, and funk producer Greyboy.  Marc’s reputation as arguably the most sampled guitarist in the business began to grow.  Most notably, legendary rapper/producer Dr. Dre brought Marc into his studio to lend guitar licks to a few new tracks he was producing.  Samples from this session made their way into songs by Lighter Shade of Brown and Coolio.  As a member of Solsonics, Marc made a major splash while on tour with Fugees and Queen Latifah.  Early in the tour, after Solsonics had finished their set, Marc realized that his amp had been accidentally left on stage, forgotten by the crew who were busy preparing for the Queen’s performance.  “Hey Frenchy!” someone called.  Marc, running back to the stage, stopped in his tracks, turned and realized it was the Queen herself.  They chatted and Ms. Latifah, instead of letting him retrieve his amp, insisted that he join her set.  Marc brought the house down, and was invited to play with her for the remainder of their 30-date tour. 

 

Marc has also toured with Basia, played extensive dates alongside jazz artists Dave Koz and Chris Botti, and jammed with Sting.  He won a Latin Grammy for his work on an album by The Latin Project, whose single “El Feugo” climbed to the top of the dance charts.  Such a stunning resume leaves little wonder as to why Marc Antoine is so at home playing on hip-hop, dance, modern jazz and soul records.  Though Modern Times is his seventh solo album, Marc always enjoys the act of collaboration and sees it as a starting point for new hybrids of music to emerge.

 

 Modern Times is a big departure from 2003’s Mediterraneo, Antoine’s flamenco-tinged album that garnered two number one singles for the Rendezvous Music artist.  Now his warm acoustic string style is replaced with hyper jazz-fusion sounds and a creative, experimental energy tailor made for cocktail parties and dance floors alike.  “I don’t want to be limited by one instrument or one sound,” Antoine explains, “and one person in a studio can become limiting with only one point of view in the music.”  Jumping off from traditional forms of guitar playing, he also took on bass and keyboard duties this time around and recruited a specialist to take his compositions in a new direction.  Antoine first met his co-producer, David Fererro (known for hugely successful house music remixes for Santana, Jennifer Lopez and others), when the two had a big hit with Fererro’s remix of the song “Latin Quarter,” which garnered huge radio play and prompted an extensive tour of the dance-frenzied clubs of Spain’s Canary Islands.

 

“Just like each different type of guitar creates its own special sound, chill out music is based on a lot of moods,” Antoine explains of his choice to move in to the dance realm.  “We created the moods electronically and then played over them.”  To make emotional and intense songs that operate on many levels, the creative duo joined forces in the studio, bouncing ideas off one another and recruiting talented live players to contribute instrumental vibes and atmospheric effects.  The two used computer programs like Pro Tools, Stylus and Logic and then layered live piano, trumpet, trombone and flute on top.  Human voices appear in many forms on Modern Times – odd library music samples converse with the lush voices of singers Noemi on “Camden Town” and “Samba Hood” and Beatriz Nunez on “Cantar al Amor.”  Spoken word segments performed by Antoine and Ferrero complement the voice of Antoine’s wife, former Miss Madrid, Rebecca Vega, who was pulled out of the kitchen one night while cooking dinner to provide the lyrics to “Can You Feel It.”

 

Antoine considers himself a citizen of the world and his albums Universal Language, Cruisin’ and Mediterraneo play like the musical photo album of a lifetime of wanderlust.  2005 finds the devoted, ever-evolving artist headed into the future – venturing not towards a specific geographical locale, but to a state of mind where no limits apply and the music can ignite the senses.  Antoine breaks it down simply by saying that “there comes a time in the life of an artist when you feel in a certain space and you just have to DO IT.  No thinking, just doing.”  Modern Times does it.

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Contact: Rick Scott/Great Scott P.R.oductions 310.398.0260

     greatscottpr@pacificnet.net