 Huit chansons de Bartók (1881-1945), une de Kodály (1882-1967) et deux mélodies suédoises composent ce récital de… jazz, preuve du caractère intemporel et de la modernité de la musique populaire ici revisitée avec grande originalité par un trio improvisateur voix, piano, contrebasse talentueux. Un trompettiste se joint discrètement au trio au chant 6. Ces mélodies populaires se prêtent ainsi à une nouvelle interprétation puisque Bartók et Kodály avaient déjà adapté les chants qu’ils collectaient. D’origine franco-suédoise, Clara Barry, qui est aussi violoniste et compositrice, s’est pliée pendant des mois à l’étude de la prononciation, ô combien difficile, du hongrois mais on ne serait pas surpris de l’écouter chanter en anglais tant ces mélodies anonymes superbement jazzifiées par la chanteuse, le pianiste compositeur et arrangeur hongrois Emil Spany et le contrebassiste Matyas Szandai auraient pu être composées par un Bill Evans ou un Bud Powell. La voix douce de Clara Barry portée par une rythmique implacable (chant 2, 3 ou 9) ou des langueurs délicates (chant 4, 7 ou 8) développe avec aisance ces mélodies si anciennes et si modernes. Deux chansons suédoises tels des standards de jazz concluent cette très originale adaptation. (Gérard Martin) While some people’s lives get muddled up in the meanders of complexity, others, on the contrary, dazzle by the clarity of their path, which they follow step by step according to the quiet rhythm of obviousness. It’s as if these steps had called to each other and been arranged in such a way as to offer the face of naturalness. Clara Barry belongs to this second category, and the clarity of a form of quiet logic emanates from her conversation. So much so that she can sum up her life and this album’s programme in the breath of a single sentence: “Although I studied classical violin, I’ve always sung, immersed in this strong tradition of Swedish folk song handed down by my mother. This favoured my encounter with Bartók and led me to present a project based on this mode of transmission so simple and yet so refined, which requires the musicians to display a skilful blend of technique and improvisation.” Eight Bartók pieces, one by Kodály and two Swedish creations: this is the fluid and balanced tribute of a clear idea, but nonetheless the result – since the idea alone is not enough! – of a long maturation process. “It took me an enormous amount of time to find the right musicians,” Clara Barry concedes. “When I fell in love with these Bartók pieces and decided to reappropriate them, I first gave it a try with a classical pianist, but it didn’t work out. It was the same thing with jazz musicians. I had to wait until I was preparing for my Bachelor’s recital at the HEMU Jazz in Lausanne for something to happen. The click came when I met two Hungarian musicians, the pianist Emil Spányi and the double bass player Mátyás Szandai. They were the ones who enabled me to find the missing link by making the connection between this intuition that I felt boiling within, in the cauldron of my Swedish heritage, and the roots of their compatriots Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. However, the language remained a significant hurdle. I hadn’t realised how complicated Hungarian would be to master. And there was no question of compromising on this point: the language is itself music, so it would be an absolute betrayal not to master it!”
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