Jazz lovers are in for a treat tomorrow, when some of the hottest jazzmen around arrive from France.

The concert is being held as part of the ongoing "French Exhibition of Science and Technology for a New Millennium," which aims to give audiences a showcase of advanced science and technology and also some of the most sensational sounds around.

Organized by the China International Youth Exchange Centre, the Embassy of France and Logistics Cultural and Art Exchange Centre, and managed by the Century Performance Corporation, the French jazz concert will be held at the Century Theatre.

The concert will feature two bands, one with the energetic world jazz feel of flautist Magic Malik and the other with the rhythmic approach of saxophonist Julien Lourau.

Thirty-one-year-old Lourau has wasted no time in making a name for himself over the past few years and is now one of the most outstanding and energetic personalities of the youthful, French jazz scene.

In the fall of 1998, Lourau unexpectedly announced that the time had come for Groove Gang to split up. He had directed the band for seven years and they had made a hit with their second album "City Boom Boom."

Groove Gang staged its last concert at the New Morning on December 12, 1998. But why did they split up?

"I think that we had experienced all we could together, and I couldn't see anymore what we were heading for, musically speaking," said Lourau, "I also wanted to remove the brass section from the band to make room for my music as a saxophonist."

As a result, he had three months to find musicians willing to follow him on his world tour and on a new musical adventure. He started in April 1999 when he travelled to Latin America, (from Argentina to Guatemala) and continued his tour through Africa and Europe (Norway).

He hired flautist Malik Mezzadri, Argentinean percussionist Minino Garay, DJ Shalom on the decks, drummer Maxime Zampieri, keyboard player Stephanus Vivens, "a polyvalent keyboard player who knows everything about Eastern European music, as well as jazz-rock and Argentinean music," Dondieu Divin, a Tamil keyboard player, Jeff Sharel, "another keyboard specialist who is also a gifted programmer coming from the house music world," and bass player Sylvain Daniel.

With his new team, Lourau recorded a new album. It took him a long time to find the right title: "Gambit." What motivated his choice for this name? The answer lies in any good English dictionary giving the definition of the term: "an opening move in which a chessman, usually a pawn, is sacrificed to secure an advantageous position."

The definition speaks for itself. "This word instantly rang a bell for me because it describes my change of mind," said Lourau, "I am still playing the same game as it were, but I took another artistic direction in order to put forward my music as a saxophonist and to make room for more electronic instruments in the new band."

The "multiple-way" music chosen by Lourau is perfectly mirrored by the album:"After 10 hyperactive years, I need to take it easy and I would like to find new ideas and take my time, the aim being to better take in all the influences and to concentrate on the musical worlds I have been exploring for years," he said.

Magic Malik, the leader of the other group will also perform in the concert, and was also a member of Lourau's old band "Groove Gang."

Whether on Saint Germain's "Boulevard," peopled with house pulsations and urban sounds, or in the stateless jazz of Lourau's Groove Gang, or in a Jamaica-on-Seine version with Human Spirit, Malik has always known how to give meaning to encounters and to give his instrument with humanity and elegance.

At the age of 32, this exceptional musician has at last given us an album made entirely by himself, in his own image: "69 96."

Born in Africa, Malik has always seen music as a language, a way to take on the world and to exist in it.

In 1999 Malik set off on a world tour with the Groove Gang that has profoundly influenced him. On their return he felt ready to launch into a solo project.

The result is a record to classify with the unclassifiable, the brain teasers for record dealers or mad label collectors.

It is a melting pot of numerous styles and genres: reinterpretations of drum'n'bass jewels, African polyrhythmics, echoes of Indian ragga or Bolivian music, jazz riffs, heart-rending melodies, atmospheric developments, "unbalanced" salsa...

This enumeration should not frighten the novice listener, on the contrary. All Malik's talents, and those of his collaborators reside in their ability to frankly re-appropriate these forms and styles of music and to obtain a string of innovative and accessible songs.

The musical liberty in this album evokes the freedom of jazz, but is the sort of jazz free of academic influence.

"I think that people like Julien Lourau, DJ Gilb'R, Laurent Garnier, or Saint German and Stephane Malka's work has really changed the public's way of listening to music," said Malik. "I get the feeling that today lots of people perceive music over and above styles, they are sensitive to what is expressed behind the techniques and the material. Listening with the heart is beginning to develop."

That's just great, because that is where Malik's music hits the hardest: straight at the heart.

(China Daily November 22, 2001)