“Helen Gillet and her cello are a love story for the ages. Whether it’s just the two of them on stage or they are joined by the dizzying roster of collaborators she’s worked with over the years, there’s no anticipating what direction the music will take. If an Ornette Coleman mood strikes she leans into it, her vigorous bow sliding every which way. Afterwards she might play a French chanson, the lilting tune as sweetly restrained as her improvisations are textured and wild. Such range is growing increasingly rare, and she earned hers the old-fashioned way: by playing absolutely everything with anyone she thought was doing something interesting—and she has the stories to prove it. Gillet studied Hindustani cello playing with the legendary Nancy Lesh, has her master’s in classical cello performance from Loyola University, and spent decades proving that both women and cellos belong in jazz bands. Gillet’s music is driven by a burning, ever-evolving curiosity. She loves to play, but she also loves to listen, and her discerning ears have secured her place as one of New Orleans’ finest improvisers. Though her stage presence can be intimidating, Helen Gillet also happens to be fun—her solo performances are never self-serious, and are always well-seasoned with rambling stories and silly jokes translated from her French songs. I was delighted to sit down with her at St. Coffee to catch up about artistic evolution, self-romance, and her new album.‘
This is Jeff Coffin & Helen Gillet and we want to let you know about our new duo release on Ear Up Records called LET IT SHINE. Release date is March 19th, 2021 and we would love to share it with you. The following link is a press link and you can stream the entire recording or download the mp3s for free.
LIITED EDITION SIGNED COPY of CD available for purchase at HERE
From Jeff:
Making music with cellist Helen Gillet is what it must be like to go sport fishing for marlin! You have to be strong, on your toes, and ready for anything. She is at once deeply rooted, historical, forward reaching, in the sky, pushing, prying, releasing, taking charge, acquiescing, leading, following, empathic, subtle, liquid, she’s air and fire, earth and sky, Helen Gillet is a profoundly powerful musical spirit.
lines intersecting
sounds plea for resolution
voices heard through sound
standing on each others shoulders
holding musical hands
clasped but wiggling free
Green ears listening and head bobbing
listening from the other side
off we go in gratitude and wonder
From Helen:
“Let it Shine” consists of intimate instrumental duos. “Do you Still” is my arrangement of a composition by Dutch Jazz cellist Ernst Reijseger, two tone poems composed by Jeff; one from a Sufi text, the other from The pledge of Allegiance called “Should I Stand” and “Unzen” my own compositional tribute to Charles Mingus. The opening piece “The Sun Never Says” an instrumental duet artfully composed by Jeff Coffin. It is based on the rhythmic inflections and unfolding meaning of a Sufi poem that reads:
Even After All this time
The sun never says to the earth
“You owe me”
Look what happens with a love like that
,It lights the Whole Sky
Jeff has a generous and energetic spirit that lights up the whole process of making an album. From the first composition he sent me until the last zoom meeting we have had, he continues to shine this strong light on the music we have made together.
Thanks so much for listening and we hope you love the recording! Please let us know if we can help in any way possible or if you have any questions.
This is Jeff Coffin & Helen Gillet and we want to let you know about our new duo release on Ear Up Records called LET IT SHINE. Release date is March 19th, 2021 and we would love to share it with you. The following link is a press link and you can stream the entire recording or download the mp3s for free.
LIITED EDITION SIGNED COPY of CD available for purchase at HERE
From Jeff:
Making music with cellist Helen Gillet is what it must be like to go sport fishing for marlin! You have to be strong, on your toes, and ready for anything. She is at once deeply rooted, historical, forward reaching, in the sky, pushing, prying, releasing, taking charge, acquiescing, leading, following, empathic, subtle, liquid, she’s air and fire, earth and sky, Helen Gillet is a profoundly powerful musical spirit.
lines intersecting
sounds plea for resolution
voices heard through sound
standing on each others shoulders
holding musical hands
clasped but wiggling free
Green ears listening and head bobbing
listening from the other side
off we go in gratitude and wonder
From Helen:
“Let it Shine” consists of intimate instrumental duos. “Do you Still” is my arrangement of a composition by Dutch Jazz cellist Ernst Reijseger, two tone poems composed by Jeff; one from a Sufi text, the other from The pledge of Allegiance called “Should I Stand” and “Unzen” my own compositional tribute to Charles Mingus. The opening piece “The Sun Never Says” an instrumental duet artfully composed by Jeff Coffin. It is based on the rhythmic inflections and unfolding meaning of a Sufi poem that reads:
Even After All this time
The sun never says to the earth
“You owe me”
Look what happens with a love like that
,It lights the Whole Sky
Jeff has a generous and energetic spirit that lights up the whole process of making an album. From the first composition he sent me until the last zoom meeting we have had, he continues to shine this strong light on the music we have made together.
Thanks so much for listening and we hope you love the recording! Please let us know if we can help in any way possible or if you have any questions.
My experience at Hambidge was very inspiring and had a greatly welcomed and somewhat unexpected influence on me as a musician. I allowed my visual, literary, mathematical and naturalist curiosities to deepen and flourish. My need to be connected with nature is so incredibly palpable!! I am so grateful for Mary Hambidge’s truly ahead of her time vision for this place. I found myself understanding the very nature of how my artistic process works as a musical creator by looking deeper into the concepts of dynamic symmetry. I am a sound collage artists in many senses, layering cello parts, vocals and other instruments through the use of loops and multi track recording. As I set up a full recording studio during my 2 weeks at Garden (The name of my studio in the woods), I found myself studying not only the musical materials I had brought with me to work on but also the Fibonacci sequence, Golden ratio and the principles of Symmetry found in nature and in Mary’s weavings. I began seeing patterns in the relationships of musical notes, harmonies, melodies, textures etc… I used 2 cellos, one electrified through loops, the other, my newest instrument, A Cison cello, played and recorded in its pure acoustic state. I also sang and played the Garden Studio Steinway, a Moog Sub Fatty Analogue synthesizer, 2 vintage Roland drum machines, bells, rocks and the sounds of water taken from the waterfalls and rapids in the creeks. I mapped out chord progressions using the Fibonacci series, finding myself crunching numbers as I watched the autumn leaves fall. The juxtaposition of mathematical principles and the fluid beauty and variety of the natural worlds worked as a wonderful pair in guiding me through a very fruitful musical recording process. I composed new ideas and ended up leaving with 14 new pieces to continue refining. What was so interesting about spending 2 weeks at Hambidge during a global pandemic was embracing a realism found in the scientific principles that inform art and music. Coming into a deeper awareness that beauty, variety and complexity exist and even flourish within the parameters of science was a deeply focusing experience as an artist. I am going to continue working on the 14 songs that came out of this fruitful time and take whatever time I need to fine tune them into a new album (s).
Hi my lovely fans and friends. My heart is with you during these new strange times of social distancing. I will perform a LIVE CONCERT every Monday 7pm CST from my New Orleans home - Hope you will tune in! You can buy virtual TICKETS HERE and get a free download of Helkiase (2018 album)
The best medicine to come out of Belgium since the nuns invented Helkiase!! Shout to writer Holly Devon and @antigravitymag for the review of my last solo album. http://www.antigravitymagazine.com/2018/12/reviews-30/
