Sanseverino electrifies his guitar and plugs his “two fingers into the socket”

He was known above all for his jazzy style, mostly acoustic, and strongly inspired by Django Reinhardt of whom he is an unconditional admirer. But Sanseverino also likes blues and rock, as he had already let emerge in the album. Montreuil / Memphis in 2017. This new opus The two fingers in the socket (Verycords) connects a little more to electricity, and takes us to the lands of rhythm and blues, soul, and seventies rock.

And we understand that JJ Cale, the legend of the laidback and the Tulsa sound, influenced Sanseverino as much as Django or Brassens. Moreover, the guitarist took over the poet from Sète during the show A day with Brassens, broadcast on France 3 on the occasion of the centenary of Uncle Georges. His resumption of Petition to be buried at the beach of Sète alone on the electric guitar gave the impression of hearing Brian Setzer playing Brassens.

This is perhaps the secret of Sanseverino: to make the link between the Anglo-Saxon music of the sixties and seventies and the French song with texts. Because if the guitar connects the solos in staccato, and the bass does not hesitate to sometimes adorn itself with distortion, the lyrics are never superficial. Admittedly often without logical progression or reasonably constructed story, but always imbued with poetry and a keen eye on our current world.

But even if the bosses are ridiculed in At Medef, than Easter Islands paints an inglorious picture of our former colonies or that an anti-system misanthropy emerges in I do not want it, Sanseverino’s songs do not pour into assertive activism. And above all, the words give free rein to the imagination, the unforeseen, the uncalculated. An automatic writing and an often zany spirit which could well ogle the side of Boris Vian or Nino Ferrer.

I didn’t want a general concept or theme anyway, so it’s going all over the place.

And the letting go evoked in the title track is also expressed in a nonchalance which sometimes takes on jazz accents. This is particularly the case in Liquefied, romantic and light ballad but which is so good.

Of the twelve titles that make up the disc, we notice two covers. As a final, Who is this one by Pierre Vassiliu, where the singer-guitarist admits to having put “less chorus than the original”. And then his first success Traffic jams. Originally released in 2001 on his second album People’s tango, the track is revisited here in electrified mode.

It was thanks to this song that it all started for me on the radio. I wanted to make it heard that she can sound like that too

Sanseverino

And it is clear that the song works perfectly in both arrangements. So, if a waltz that starts off with gypsy jazz can sound just as well in a seventies blues rock version, the message is clear. It is that you should not hesitate to regularly let go, and even sometimes put your fingers in it.

The two fingers in the socket by Sanseverino was released on October 15 on Verycords.

Sanseverino is currently on tour and will be in concert at La Maroquinerie on December 1st.

Find all the dates on the Facebook page.