The Le Boeuf Brothers put a different spin on…?
Critics have declared that Le Boeuf Brothers are laying the foundation for the next decade of jazz. The duo has been reviewed by the New York Times and won awards from Downbeat Magazine . Originally from California and now veterans of the New York jazz scene Remy and Pascal Le Boeuf remain unphased by all the attention staying original and pursuing a direction uniquely their own.
How do they do it? Well as saxophonist Remy asserts a sense of humour is important. “We take the music extremely seriously” Remy says. “But we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like to have a fun time and we’re not going to be like mouldy figs onstage.”
The music itself is certainly serious which is obvious from the list of musicians and composers that Remy and Pascal cite as influences. Three of the foremost inspirations are Radiohead Björk and Igor Stravinsky.
“I can’t even begin to understand all the ways they’ve influenced me” Remy says. “I’m so sure their sense of melody rhythm and harmony have permeated my thinking. In a more concrete way we do a lot of post-production a lot of layered compositions. It’s really more of an approach that someone like Björk would take.”
Influences aside the brothers’ reputation for modern production techniques sound collages and layered arrangements has distinguished them in the jazz community. It’s a direction that not everyone in the jazz world is comfortable with but for the Le Boeuf Brothers it’s true to themselves.
“I’m very comfortable with the direction I’m taking” says Remy “I’m almost more comfortable taking this direction than I am taking a more traditional jazz direction because I feel like this is something that is really uniquely who I am. I am not really worried about getting some extreme reactions — you know maybe not everyone’s going to like it maybe some people will really like it.
“I think it will be good for us because we’ll be doing something that is really real to us and it’s something that other people aren’t doing as much at least in the jazz world. I’m just doing what I love and being who I am and however people take that is up to them.”
The direction these brothers take in their jazz career is never short on inspiration and innovation. Remy is exploring a project inspired by literature particularly short stories of Franz Kafka. “I really like writing music based on literature” Remy says. “I like the structure of short stories the form and the fact that it kind of gets you out of the typical jazz box.”
No doubt about it these young jazz musicians will continue to push boundaries challenge themselves and their listeners and stay outside the box.
