CHENNAI: H ip-hop and jazz will groove to a new modern tune with The Sax Machine, a trio of international musicians, visiting India for the first time with a performance at Phoenix MarketCity on Wednesday. With saxophone player Guillaume Sene, trombone artiste Pierre Dandin and rapper RacecaR, CE caught up with the band to chat about their inspiration from American black music and their musical overtures across the globe.
The idea for creating The Sax Machine came in 2009 when Guillaume bought a new looper pedal effect and recorded some tracks with looped saxophones and beatbox just for fun. “It so happened that the Recife (Brazil) Jazz Festival got wind of these tracks and invited me to come and play during the festival. It was there that I met Pierre Dandin — trombone player — who was touring with Sergent Garcia (a famous French/Cuban band). We started to jam together with some looper effects pedals and a laptop,” he says.
The duo replaced the rhythm instruments with horn sections and customised them with effect pedals.
Their collaboration led them to meeting RacecaR, an American rapper from Chicago, who had shifted base to Paris. “Our ‘alchemy’ has never stopped since!” exclaims Guillaume, and the group has since launched their first album, with their second coming up later this year.
“As a group, our musical influences are about black music — jazz, soul, funk, afrobeat and hip hop. Individually speaking, our panel is large — each of us draw inspiration from varied genres ranging from classical music, reggae and rock. But we like to increase our musical identity by listening to new kinds of music!”
Guillaume and Pierre draw their inspiration from New Orleans brass bands (a musical ensemble consisting mostly of trombones, trumpets and cornets). “We had the chance to travel to New Orleans and learned a lot about music over there,” says Guillaume.
RacecaR, meanwhile, is the lyricist of the group who lends a whimsical air to the group’s music. “RacecaR’s lyrics are all about wordplay — telling stories of life while also having a social theme. The most important thing is to spread love, peace, unity and to have fun!”
The group has also relished the opportunities they got while travelling for live shows in Europe, Russia and Africa. “We had some amazing audiences in Eastern Europe even though our music is majorly American black music. But, during a tour in Madagascar, we had the chance to create some tracks with a traditional singer from Madagascar!” quips Guillaume.
The group is apologetic that they aren’t more in tune with the regional music. “We think Indian music is directly linked to dance, which is very interesting,” they say.
Apart from their first album, Speed of Life, they have their second one — Bubbling — lined up to be released on March 3. “We’re pretty excited since it has some great collaborations with Raashan Ahmad and Mattic, two American rappers with two different skills and both amazing flows, and many others!”
(Catch The Sax Machine perform on Wednesday, 7:30 pm onwards at Phoenix Market City, Velachery)