To mark his 50-year career, Zachary Richard wanted a new adventure. Rather than dragging his old hits out of the attic and regrouping them in their original versions, he decided to wrap them in the silky elegance of a chamber orchestra.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Entitled Dancing the sky, the album resulting from this happy musical marriage is expected this Thursday. There are ten of the Cajun singer’s greatest hits, as well as two original songs.
The idea germinated in the head of Zachary Richard in 2016, during a concert in La Fayette with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. “I performed some of my songs. The reaction of the public was significant, not only in the room, but also on Facebook, where I had put an excerpt from Jewel Lake. And for my part, I had a lot of fun doing this concert. »
To move from idea to action, he called on the arranger Boris Petrowski and his brother Nicolas, owner of a recording studio in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. “I wanted to explore the repertoire from another angle. I gave Boris the mandate to explore harmonies in an adventurous way. I’m not a big connoisseur of classical music, but there are things that I particularly like. It’s the beginning of the XXand century: Debussy, Satie, Ravel, Stravinsky. It is a furrow where I find myself very comfortable. Harmonically speaking, it speaks to me. »
I didn’t just want to add a spoonful of sugar to my repertoire. I wanted to do a musical adventure that would push it further.
Zachary Richard
The result, he says, makes him very proud. “We decided to take a risk and the bet paid off. These are the same melodies that people know, but they are not the same songs! We added a touch of elegance to which I am very sensitive. »
Pieces to rediscover
“People will rediscover certain pieces. I am thinking in particular of The ballad of Jean Batailleur. Until I sing, we have no idea what song it is. We are really sailing in another constellation. But I wanted all the same to remain faithful to an image: that of me who is surrounded. There is always acoustic guitar or piano. It is I who find myself projected into a silky environment. I dare to think that people will like it. »
For some pieces, Zachary Richard decided to leave aside the strings of the chamber orchestra. For Work is too hard, he surrounded himself with traditional musician friends from Louisiana. “We played on the back gallery, with a cold beer in hand. There was a certain carelessness that counterbalances all the symphonic richness. » The essential The tree is in its leaves, he took it back accompanied by a Montreal street band, led by Aurélien Tomasi. “These are whites from Montreal who play like blacks from New Orleans,” says Zachary Richard.
In short, all the great successes of Zachary Richard are included here, including Cape Enrage, Marjoram Where paddle. However, it is an original piece that gave the name to this album. Dancing the sky is a tribute to the artist’s mother, who passed away in January 2021. “I was very devoted to my mother. I am an only child ; I lost my father in 2005, the year of the hurricane. »
This song, he says, almost came to him by accident. “The muse rode my spirit, as one rides a horse. That’s how we say it in voodoo. There’s an emotion that came out and I made a song out of it. But it’s not a sad song. It’s a dance song. This song is a gift from my mother, who was a happy woman with a lot of humor. »
The other original song, My Louisiana, was written by a friend from Louisiana, a master carpenter by trade. “I thought it was beautiful…”, simply says the artist, who immediately decided to record it.
The release of the album will be accompanied, starting in May, by a tour in Quebec. After more than two years away from the stage – whether here or at home in Louisiana – Zachary Richard will finally be able to reconnect with the public. “And I will be able to continue to express myself with my old friends Rick Haworth, Mario Légaré, Paul Picard…”
There may not be a chamber orchestra on stage, but there will definitely be decades of combined experience!
Dancing the sky
Zachary Richard