Notes by the composer in the role of the painter
1989: Stormy meeting with the subject in Brazil in a crowded São Paulo hotel lobby.
1991: Portrait of Celea in Nice at the CIRM studios. He plays the double bass freely. Three days of recording in the form of sound sketches.
1991: A few months later, composition of electroacoustic sequences in the studio to try to capture the sound and personality of Jean Paul Celea (integrating his voice). This portrait project eventually became a gallery of various styles of portraits depicting facets of the soloist, from the experimentalist ferocious to the lyrical jazzman. The premiered version for double bass and tape was a duel/ duo between Celea and his sound portraits playing from the loudspeakers.

The soloist Jean-Paul Celea
French bass player, born 1951. Member of L'Ensemble Intercontemporain at IRCAM (with Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen), he then decided to devote himself to jazz and improvised music. World tours, e. g. with guitarist John MacLaughlin and the Vienna Art Orchestra. Currently in charge of master classes in Lyon, he continues to pursue a carreer as soloist. (Michel Redolfi)