Jazzmania: We already spoke about the album Close to the Water in an interview published in October. We’re now going to take a closer look at your personality. But first of all, how is your first album doing?
Adèle Viret: Well, the feedback from the press has been very positive and the public seem to like it too… So, I’m very happy about that.
I enjoyed attending the concert you gave in Liège with your quartet. It sounded like a real group effect. It was not necessarily Adèle and her quartet, with each musician in his or her own performance space… Was this a deliberate choice, or does it come naturally to you?
I think it’s quite natural, at least with this quartet. We had worked together and I wanted everyone to have the right to decide, especially during concerts. The other projects in which I am involved, whether Mosaïc or Medinea, are collective projects. We make progress by exchanging ideas, with everyone making suggestions. Well I guess I feel most comfortable in this system.
Now let’s talk about you in more detail… What are your earliest musical memories?
It’s no easy question. Perhaps this memory is blurred / distorted due to the fact that the video was shot when I was four years old. On this recording, my father offers me a cello. And that’s the reason why I went on to play this instrument. In fact, my father (Jean-Philippe Viret – Editor’s note) was playing with five other double bass players in a group for which he had written a song for me, because I had trouble falling asleep. The track was a minor hit, and a video was shot. But I don’t particularly remember the filming. I only found out later…
Your dad is a professional musician. Could you plan a career outside music? Did your father ever encourage you to follow this path?
Yes, and he has always made it possible. I’ve never felt like I was forced to make music, there was no pressure. He ìs opened doors for me, with the idea that it would be possible if I felt like it. So, the influence arose naturally. I have played the cello from the age of eight or nine and I was then convinced that I would make a career out of it.
Even though it’s a relatively unstable profession, and you can go through hard times?
There was, of course, a period of reflections in adolescence. I wondered whether I should invest myself completely or if I really felt like going on.
Your dad plays the double bass while you play the cello. Is it a way of gently standing out?
When I started playing the cello, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two instruments. Then, the cello became an obvious choice for me. As far (back) as I can remember, this instrument has always been part of my life. (…)
Your quartet includes your younger brother Oscar, who plays the trumpet and sings beautifully. Was it an obvious choice for you, to the point of composing music and having his participation in the project in mind?
Not at all. In fact, I composed the repertoire for the record before I knew which musicians I was going to work with. These songs CAME NATURALLY. In fact, we started out as a trio. I first proposed the songs to Wajdi Riahi and Pierre Hurty, but I quickly realised that something was missing and that we needed to go to four musicians. And that’s when my brother’s presence became so obvious.
You’re only twenty-five years old, yet your music is already very mature.
When the quartet was born, just after the pandemic, we spent a lot of time searching. We rehearsed over two years before giving our first concert.This was my requirement, while the other members of the quartet were impatient to take the next step. But I knew where the bar was that I had set for this repertoire.There was no question of me going any further until we had reached that goal. I was a bit stressed but I held OUT. And we were ready the first time we performed in front of an audience. Since then, we’ve been improving, gig by gig.
You have been willing to make sacrifices to progress in music, including moving to Brussels to continue your studies at the Conservatoire. Would you advise young musicians to embark on this adventure?
I don’t know… Probably not. Let’s stop saying: «This is the right method, this is the way to go». The method I chose was perhaps the best suited to what I wanted to achieve and become. Above all, I know that each musician has to listen to himself and follow his own path. Well, personally, I didn’t go to the Conservatoire for jazz. I had learnt a lot from my father and from the musicians with whom I share projects.
As well as the musicians in your family, there must have been other important meetings, Fabrizio Cassol or Magic Malik, for example.
Yes, certainly. These two people have been very important to me, especially in terms of the confidence they gave me. I met Magic Malik at a master class in Montreuil. He then invited me to join him on stage for a project he was putting together with bassist Hilaire Penda. As for Fabrizio, he got me involved in the Medinea project (an album has just been published by Fuga Libera – see our article on Chronique Jazzmania). We met again when I arrived in Brussels. He asked me to join him in one of his projects for the Klara Festival. I’ll be there as an assistant artistic director, so to speak (a concert to be held in Brussels on 22 March). Fabrizio gives me the opportunity to do things I wouldn’t have imagined. It helps me move forward and gives me confidence.
When you’re on your own, what kind of music do you like to listen to?
[laughs] Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to listen to music at the moment. Things are going so fast ! I miss it. I’d like to take the time to discover new things. When you come out of a day that’s already been entirely devoted to music, you want to do something else.
What kind of music could you listen to? Rap, for example, like a lot of young people your age?
No, rap’s not really my thing… Actually, I generally listen to the other projects put together by the musicians I work with. Mostly jazz. Well, I mainly discover things by going to concerts.
Like the sounds of London’s New Jazz, for example?
No, not really, I stick to the scenes around me, in France, in Belgium, or in Portugal, where I am regularly invited by musicians from the Lisbon scene for concerts and projects, and the Netherlands as well. But I also like some Brazilian music, which is completely different, just for the sheer pleasure of listening.
Now, let’s move on to the section devoted to the International Women’s Day. You ìre a young musician working in jazz, which is a very male-dominated field. How do you feel about that?
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a bit ambiguous. When I was younger, I felt rejected for a long time. I didn’t feel I fitted in. I wondered if it wasn’t because of the instrument I was playing. The cello is a special instrument, not very common in jazz, even if things are changing a little bit…So much so that I can’t say whether I felt excluded because I’m a woman or because of the cello… Things are very different for a double bass or drums, which are virtually indispensable jazz instruments. That’s the reason why I set up this quartet, to compose my own repertoire for the cello. It might encourage leaders to include me in their groups.
Indeed, we’ve seen cellos in some very fine projects, such as Le Cri du Caire and Naïssam Jalal’s performances …
Indeed, it’s more common. When I was younger, I didn’t get into the jam circuit either, because the instrument didn’t lend itself to it. And I’m not particularly interested in playing standards with a cello. To put it in a nutshelI, I didn’t fit into the traditional boxes. But, generally speaking, it’s fair to say that there are more and more women in the jazz world.
A French musician and Ondes Martenot player, Christine Ott, once told me that she felt distrust. She said that when it came to composing, she had to «prove herself» more than a man. What do you think about that?
Well, I think she’s right. But I also believe that this is the case for many other professions. It’s not just music…
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