AS part of the Spotlight on French Jazz at this year's TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Pierrick Pedron brought his Cheerleaders project to Robson Square on June 24.
The music the alto saxophonist performed with his quintet took him all the way back to his childhood in Brittany where he grew up listening to his sister Solange's prog rock record collection. Mixed in with those memories of Pink Floyd and Yes were brass bands and the cheerleaders that accompanied the ensembles in small town street parades in the French countryside. Pedron combined all of these sounds into a jazz concept album, Cheerleaders, his third solo album released in the fall of 2011 on the ACT Music label.
"When I was a kid I was not listening to jazz," Pedron says. "I was listening to what my sister was listening to. I wanted to do a project that combined rock and jazz influences. It's a very strange mix of all my influences."
Pedron's sister took accordion lessons from a music teacher who also taught saxophone. He began playing the instrument at the age of seven but wouldn't learn about jazz until his midteens. "My first steps with jazz were with jazz rock like Brecker Brothers, Steps Ahead and John Scofield," he says. "And then later 'the real thing' like Charlie Parker and Coltrane." Bebop and Hard Bop were a huge influence on his own playing and Pedron has studied every aspect of '40s and '50s jazz to inform his own music.
"It's difficult to make the connection listening to my latest CD but my influences come from alto saxophonists like Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt, and Phil Woods who became my friend. I like this period of music."
At 18 Pedron studied at the CIM Jazz School in Paris and then became a professional musician learning his trade in the city's historic clubs such as the Duc des Lombards and New Morning.
Pedron worked on Cheerleaders with his childhood friend Ludovic Bource acting as musical director on the project. The two have worked together many times over the years. Bource came to international attention last year after composing the music for The Artist which earned him many international awards.
They initially recorded a 17-piece brass band in Paris and then two months later did the main tracks with the quintet at ICP studios in Brussels, Belgium. When Pedron performs Cheerleaders live in Europe they enlist amateur community musicians to perform with the quintet on stage. A lot of planning goes into putting together each concert but it is worth the effort he says. "When we play with the brass bands in France we play with children, old people - anybody who wants to play. We have scores and work with the local musicians. It's a great experience for everybody."
The Spotlight on French Jazz continues at the jazz fest this weekend with shows at Ironworks June 30, 9 p.m. (Benoit Delbecq, Francois Houle and Marc Ducret) and the Roundhouse Performance Centre, July 1, 3: 15 p.m. (Samuel Blaser and Marc Ducret).
