Concert – Olivier Chavet 5tet – RACINES

ELEMENTS – when jazz meets nature

2nd solo album by Olivier Chavet (release march 20, 2025) 

Seclusion and proximity to the surrounding natural landscape played a key role in the creation of his second album “ELEMENTS”. But now it is time to transport the new album with its nine soul-oriented jazz compositions from solitude to the present.

Like its predecessor, “ELEMENTS” radiates a certain serenity in the face of the hectic pace of everyday life. This is another message that the Belgian-born musician and composer Olivier Chavet wants to convey to the listener with his music.  What is really important at the end of the day? A question that everyone can probably ask themselves and to which, in Chavet’s eyes, there are not too many answers. “I don’t believe that all the things that occupy us in everyday life are really important. What’s important is that at the end of the day, the positive and the closeness to oneself and one’s environment endure,” says Chavet. “Mastering your own ego plays an essential role in this.

That was also the case when composing my new album. Without the distance from the hectic pace of everyday life, the album wouldn’t be what it is.” Nature with its elements of air, fire, water and earth reflect the origin of the musician’s inspiration, resulting from the desire for an unaffected life turned towards frugality. Chavet’s home in the rugged yet beautiful Belgian Ardennes region plays a key role in this. The musical line-up, from trio to quintet, is also based on its predecessor “RACINES”.

Chavet once again found the right musicians in Belgium and Germany. As on the debut album, bassist Werner Lauscher and guitarist Daniel Chavet are constant companions. The man on the piano is Igor Gehenot, a Belgian jazz great who is well known on the Brussels scene. The quintet is complemented by Cologne trumpeter Matthias Schwengler, who replaces Heidi Bayer, who also lives in Cologne and was involved in the preparation of the album. As with “RACINES”, the “Fattoria Musica” recording studio in the Osnabrück foothills, under the direction of Amsterdam sound engineer Chris Weeda, offered the best conditions for the recording of “ELEMENTS”.