From Tunisia, to Paris, to Istanbul, this musical journey has gone rather backwards. Together with Amina Annabi, Paris grown, Turkish resident Smadj has rediscovered his love for Tunisian music, while at the same time, keeping jazz close to his heart.

Smadj, for everyday use: Jean-Pierre Smadja, was born in Tunisia but moved early with his parents to Paris where he was raised. Paris is the city which has had the largest musical impact on him. His Influences include the group DuOud (that we remember from Clandestino #1/2003). In recent years he has lived in Turkey.

I have just finished my fourth album,” says Jean-Pierre Smadja. It’s myself and two Turkish virtuosos, one playing bouzouki and one playing the clarinet. The record is more melodical than the things I did before, and more Turkish. It was released in Turkey in December, and hopefully you soon will be able to buy it in Sweden.

When Smadj comes to Gothenburg, he will be with the singer and actress, Amina Annabi. She has among other things, performed with John Malkovich in Bertolucci’s, The sheltering sky. The more attentive reader will also remember, Amina from the Eurovision song contest of 1991, when she shared first place with Carola Häggkvist, but was later awarded second place after the jury changed their scores. Still, together with Smadj it will not sound much like a ”schlager” (popular Swedish hit song). The tour is based principally on the album, Take it and Drive, which has a clear club-feel to it, while at the same time, the collaboration has brought new things to the music.

It’s very interesting to work with Amina, says Jean-Pierre. It has rekindled my love for Tunisian music. We have remixed the songs a little bit, and are also playing some of hers. And she loves to play electronic music, and to improvise.

And improvising is important to Smadj, perhaps more than usual for an electronica musician. It all fits together with his own background as a jazz musician, a career that led to the jazz/funk direction before he started to rediscover his own musical, North African background. For a while he played with the Swedish afro-saxophone player Sofi Hellborg and Fela Kutis, who are old companions of Tony Allen. Jazz, as an idea, is still included, even when Smadj mixes Turkish tunes with electronica or, like at the Clandestino Festival, is given skillful support by Aref Durvesh playing tabla and Mehdi Haddab playing oud.

Improvisation and freedom, that’s what jazz means to me, and there are two things that I always use in my music, regardless of the genre. I really love to play with good improvisation artists, and Amina and I blend together really well.

Lars Lovén