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Julien Labro Expresses Love for Jazz Through the Accordion

  • June 20, 2015December 31, 2018
  • by julien

By J.C. Lee

When Julien Labro was a young boy in Rodez, France, he never thought his accordion would take him around the world.11144481_10101873470427298_4102348912913893915_o

But in the last year, the 34-year-old’s music has taken him throughout the Middle East, to Kuwait and Qatar, from China to Brazil and more. And this weekend, Labro will travel to northern Indiana to play his accordion as part of the Hot Club of Detroit at the Elkhart Jazz Festival.

The journey all started with a television show. The accordion is a common instrument in traditional…read the rest here

 

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“From This Point Forward” included in ‘Ten New Classical…

  • May 21, 2015December 31, 2018
  • by julien

By John von Rhein

New albums find Chicago classical musicians, ensembles and composers blazing new artistic paths, moving into unusual areas of the repertory, refusing to be pigeonholed. Here is a sampling of some of the more significant recent releases that reflect this trend:

“From This Point Forward.” Julien Labro and Spektral Quartet (Azica): What hath Astor Piazzolla’s nuevo tango revolution wrought? You can hear music by some of the Argentinian tango master’s successors in this album of tangy instrumental arrangements, crafted and engagingly performed by the virtuosic Julien Labro (playing bandoneon and accordions) and the Spektral Quartet. Hang on tight as you plunge into the title track, Fernando Otero’s “De Ahora en Mas,” a frisky ride on a hurtling Latin roller coaster. No more enjoyable crossover release has come my way so far this year.

Read the rest of list!

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Interview for Premiere of “Apricity” Accordion Concerto by Labro…

  • April 10, 2015December 31, 2018
  • by julien

By Patricia Gendrey

Première mondiale d’une pièce d’un compositeur français à Katara

Julien Labro est accordéoniste, compositeur et arrangeur. Son concerto pour accordéon et orchestre – Apricity – sera joué pour la première fois à Katara, samedi 11 avril. Il nous parle de son travail et du concert de cette fin de semaine.

11136087_10153784367158012_2696041287922935416_oQatar Actu : Quel est votre parcours ?

Julien Labro : Je suis né en France, dans l’Aveyron, à Rodez. J’ai vécu aux États-Unis pendant une dizaine d’années. Je vis aujourd’hui à Toronto.

J’ai commencé l’accordéon à l’âge de 9 ans en regardant une émission à la télévision qui m’a émerveillé. J’ai suivi un cursus emménagé en musique et des études classiques au conservatoire de Marseille. Cette formation m’a ouvert de nouveaux horizons. J’ai alors découvert le jazz et des artistes comme Charlie Parker ou Miles Davis. C’est devenu une passion. J’utilisais tout mon argent de poche pour acheter le maximum de disques, ce qui a contribué à m’ouvrir l’oreille. J’ai trouvé dans le jazz une liberté que je ne retrouvais pas dans le monde classique. J’ai alors réuni bon nombre d’informations sur l’improvisation, l’histoire du jazz. J’ai découvert d’autres artistes comme Herbie Hancock ou John Coltrane. J’étais fasciné, à tel point que j’ai pris la décision de poursuivre, après le baccalauréat, mes études en Amérique du Nord pour être plus près des sources du jazz.

FULL INTERVIEW HERE 

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Premiere of “Dialogues of Love” by Avner Dorman w/…

  • November 23, 2014December 31, 2018
  • by julien

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk

Grand Rapids Symphony music director David Lockington led an epic night of epic music making with choral and instrumental music of the highest caliber.

The Grammy Award-nominated orchestra performed a work by a composer of a Grammy Award-nominated recording. Mandolinist Avi Avital and the Metropolis Ensemble getting the nomination for Best Soloist with Orchestra for their recording for Dorman’s Mandolin Concerto.

10665261_873039572714383_7619796119154405329_n (1)No mandolin appeared in “Dialogues of Love,” but accordionist Julien Labro and saxophonist Amanda Heim, plus baritone soloist Lee Poulis, were key players in a work of vast undertaking, inspired by the topic of love in its many permutations, elucidated in texts in four languages spanning two millennium.

Dorman’s imagination, which absorbs, synthesizes, and kicks out something new, is up for the challenge. He achieves authenticity by drawing upon ethnic and folk music, bits of jazz syncopation, a hint of rock rhythms, and a generous serving from the classical canon of music. Full article & review here

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Interview for Detroit News ‘University Musical Society celebrates the…

  • October 29, 2014June 24, 2015
  • by julien

By Patrick Dunn

Having presented popular shows last season featuring the ukulele, mandolin and bass saxophone, University Musical Society programming director Michael Kondziolka knew just what obscure instrument he wanted to highlight next.

“We had a lot of positive response to most of the concerts on that … curatorial line that ran through our season,” Kondziolka says. “So it was very much in my mind that we still needed to do something with the accordion.”

The instrument will receive its moment in the spotlight Saturday at Hill Auditorium in an “accordion summit” titled “The Big Squeeze.” Several individual accordionists will be 1236011_863617703656570_2110763999359328775_nfeatured, as well as the Accordion Virtuosi of Russia, a 35-member ensemble. Kondziolka says he envisioned the performance as a tour through the cultural history of the accordion, with the Virtuosi as “our accordion house band.”

“It’s pretty shocking that almost every culture has their own manifestation of the accordion, which in many ways is just a portable organ,” he says. “So it’s really fun, when you start thinking about the accordion and how it manifests itself in different cultures, how you can put an evening together.”

Hot Club of Detroit member Julien Labro will represent the South American heritage of the accordion and its “cousin,” the bandoneon, which features heavily in the music of Argentine tango legend Astor Piazzolla. Labro, who is also co-curating the summit, recalls first being “mesmerized” by the accordion when he saw it on TV at age nine. Full interview here

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Review: Cleveland Orchestra Fridays@7 with Lang Lang and Hot…

  • October 20, 2014June 24, 2015
  • by julien

by Carlyn Kessler

On Friday, October 10, The Cleveland Orchestra presented its first Fridays@7 concert of the 2014-15 season. Creating a more informal concertgoing experience, these concerts feature an earlier start time and shorter duration bookended by pre- and post-concert non-classical music, organized by world percussion luminary Jamey Haddad.

The Fridays@7 series embodies these recent developments and is undoubtedly a measure of their success. “The Fridays@7 concerts target a younger, more hip audience and are played without intermission,” wrote TCO associate principal cello Richard Weiss in an email.

The pre-concert “starter” begins at 6:00 pm in Reinberger Chamber Hall. The October 10 show highlighted Haddad along with accordion virtuoso Julien Labro and harmonica legend Howard Levy performing together in a unique musical collaboration. Read the full review here

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Review: ‘Pushing the South American Envelope’

  • October 17, 2014June 24, 2015
  • by julien

By Bruce Hodges

Inexplicably making their New York debut—only because this cracking, Chicago-based ensemble has been in existence since 2010—the Spektral Quartet packed SubCulture for a concert celebrating its newest recording, From This Point Forward (on Azica Records). Adding to the evening’s many delights was accordionist Julien Labro (who also arrangedthe works on the album). But like many virtuosos, Labro also plays related instruments: the bandoneón and the accordina—the latter similar to a melodica, but with buttons replacing the keyboard. Continue to read the full review here

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Labro featured on The Sound of Applause

  • October 14, 2014October 14, 2014
  • by julien

Dee Perry chats with Emily Anthes author of Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts who speaks Friday night at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the Explorer Series. Plus we share the music of local country crooners Rachel & The Beatnik Playboys who play The Stocker Center in Elyria this weekend.

Dee also welcomes back accordion master Julien Labro to the Key Bank studio for a preview of his performance at Severance Hall for The Cleveland Orchestra’s Fridays@7 series.

Check the interview & performance here

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Labro’s Residency at Oberlin Conservatory of Music

  • October 13, 2014October 18, 2014
  • by julien

by Jarrett Hoffman

This past Thursday, October 9, Oberlin welcomed acclaimed jazz group Hot Club of Detroit for the first Performance and Improvisation (PI) guest recital of the year. Clonick Hall was packed for the occasion, all seats filled and its back wall lined with listeners. Three impressive student ensembles kicked off the evening, each of them featuring Hot Club of Detroit accordionist Julien Labro. Then, for the second half of the night, the group tore through a set full of stunning solos and duets, particularly from Labro and group founder and lead guitarist Evan Perri. Continue to the full article here

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