Emile Parisien & Roberto Negro – Les Métanuits

Roberto Negro: piano
Emile Parisien: sopraanosaxophone

I love Ligeti’s music! Me too! This is how saxophonist Emile Parisien and pianist Roberto Negro declared 2014 to each other and soon “Les Métanuits” saw the light of day. It is their adaptation for saxophone and piano of György Liget’s first string quartet “Métamorphoses nocturnes” (1953-1954).

Emile Parisien and Roberto Negro rewrite, adapt and rearrange Ligeti’s music to a new pattern. They open the doors to improvisation, respecting the depth and playfulness of the tunes. The rhythm is at the core of the melody, alternating between a calm engine and a caffeine-drunk devil.

On May 28, 2023, the Hungarian master composer would have turned one hundred years old, and at the same time, the German label ACT will release Emile Parisien’s and Roberto Negro’s album Les Métanuits. This summer, the hard-working duo will be heard in Finland both at Rantajatsit in Raahe and in Helsinki at the jaZZanti concert series.

Emile Parisien is a key figure in French jazz and a well-known soprano saxophone player. Parisien’s new band Louise-sextet, in which plays, e.g. trumpeter Theo Crocker and drummer Nasheet Waits, is one of the hottest bands in the European jazz scene right now.
The classically trained pianist and composer Roberto Negro, who grew up in Kinshasa, Congo, studied jazz in France, first in Chambéry and then in Paris. The award-winning visionary has taken his place as one of the most original and active musicians of the French new jazz.

In cooperation with: Cooperative Full Rhizome and Vapaat Äänet

Youtube video of 19.9.2021 concert

Photo: Sakari Puhakka

The concert is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden, The Finnish Music Foundation and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).