OUC055: Jean-Louis Marchand / Monolithes
Jean-Louis says:
"Monolithes is an album released on the label Off, on which I perform three pieces by Steve Reich: Piano Phase (1967), Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) and New York Counterpoint (1985).
Created over the course of three decades, each of these works is based on a unique compositional system, leaving an indelible mark on the history of repetitive music. For me, these systems have served as a kind of instruction manual: sonic architectures that have guided and profoundly influenced me, especially during my early experiences as a composer.
With Monolithes, I aim to immerse the listener in a trance-like state. I hope that the ear will be thrown off balance, compelled to perceive the various rhythmic layers simultaneously — much like the experience of viewing an Alexander Calder mobile under a strobe light, oscillating between stillness and accelerated movement.
For Piano Phase, I chose to sequence the melodies on two Korg MS-20s. This allowed me to work on the phasing with microscopic precision. This technique echoes the micro-variations in speed of the tape recorders in the piece Come Out, another of Reich’s legendary compositions, where the phase shift, becomes music for the first time.
Music for Pieces of Wood is a piece I performed with an ensemble a few years ago, using simple pieces of wood. Recognizing the sharp, incisive character of those instruments in the high notes of my Rhodes inspired me, just as with Piano Phase and the analogue texture of the MS- 20 - to create a more electric version of the piece.
With New York Counterpoint, which I had the good fortune to stage with a large ensemble of clarinets, I came to realise the challenge of finding a common sound amongst eleven different personalities — but also the exhilaration and magnetism that arise from such an experience. When recording this piece for Monolithes, I rediscovered that fascination as I performed the eleven parts, one by one, captivated by the gradual emergence of the work’s compositional mechanism.
I met — all too briefly — Steve Reich in the early 2000s, during a magnificent performance of Music for Eighteen Musicians at the Musica festival in Strasbourg. I gave him a copy of the album Les Métronomes détraqués (Radio France / Signature), which features a piece composed with Christophe Rieger — we were then known as the Duadueduiduo — entitled To SR, for Steve Reich.
During the final stages of mixing this album, I had the immense honour of receiving constructive feedback from the composer on specific details. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Steve Reich for these valuable discussions, his support and his best wishes for the album’s success.
In addition to the digital format, Monolithes will also be released on fifty numbered and signed cassettes — a physical, almost ironic reflection of music based on loops and repetition."
Jean Louis Marchand, April 2026
Korg MS-20, Rhodes, clarinets : Jean Louis Marchand
Recording & Mixing : Jean Louis Marchand @Winslow Leach Studio Mastering : Studio Marrakech
Pictures : Denis Leonhardt / Franck Morand
Born in the Vosges region in 1979, Jean-Louis was awarded First Prizes in Improvised Music (2002), Chamber Music, and Bass Clarinet (2004) in Armand Angster’s class at the Strasbourg National Regional Conservatory.
In 2005, he also earned a Master’s degree in Music from the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, focusing on the counterpoint of rhythms, phases, and gestures bridging music and dance in the 20th century.
He joined the ensemble L’Hijâz’Car in the early 2000s and was among the driving forces behind the creation of Assoce Pikante in Strasbourg—an organization that would subsequently give rise to the Grand Ensemble de la Méditerranée and, later, Electrik GEM: ensembles dedicated to exploring the complex interplay between Eastern musical cultures and Western compositional traditions.
Since 2011, he has been based in Brussels in order to lend a European dimension to his artistic projects.
Having worked in the fields of dance, theater, and street arts for some fifteen years, the desire to write, create, and adapt musical compositions—whether in response to a text, a movement, or an image—has come to occupy an increasingly central role in his work.
In 2014, he created a "soundtrack" for James Ellroy’s *noir* novel, *The Big Nowhere* (*Le Grand Nulle Part*). This meticulous undertaking allowed him to discover a new compositional approach: working in counterpoint to a specific dramaturgy. This project was recorded for Radio France’s Signature label under the title *Requiem for Danny*.
He composed the score for *Tokyo Magnetic* (commissioned by Ars Musica), an audiovisual project that blends visuals by video artist Stéphanie Croibien with performances by an ensemble of European soloists.
He was selected to participate in the "3e personnage" sessions at the Namur (2018) and Aubagne (2019) film festivals. These sessions led to his creating the soundtracks for films by Grégoire Graesslin and Monica Rattazzi.
He directs, arranges, and composes for "What is past is prologue"—a trio featuring tenor Benoît Haller and *tahru* player Nicolas Beck—exploring the Baroque repertoire, original creation, artistic legacies, and the Space-Time continuum.
In the autumn of 2021, he set out alone for ten days with a mobile studio to record an album of improvised music, collaborating with musicians Ruben Tenenbaum, Jeanne Barbieri, Mathieu Guerret, Christian Maes, and Jacques Di Donato.
In 2022, to his great delight, he joined the vocal duo JeanneMarie—"witty songbirds who bare and reclothe their souls with the charm of lost elegances."
He also created *La Marche des Enfants*—a work by BabX for children's choir—alongside the talented David Neerman, Julien Lefèvre, and Emmanuel Reymond.
In 2023, he recorded three pieces by Steve Reich for a monographic album slated for release in 2026 on the Off label; this album has been acclaimed and endorsed by the composer himself.
All these experiences have enabled him to work at the Maison de la Radio in Paris and with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s dance school, P.A.R.T.S., in Brussels; to collaborate with artists such as Houria Aichi, Michèle Noiret, Eve Risser, Jacques Di Donato, BabX, Benoit Haller, David Enhco, Thierry de Mey, and James Ellroy; to record with guitarist Fred Frith; and to perform worldwide.
Digital release on the 12th of June 2026.
Track listing:
%20Cees%20van%20de%20Ven.jpg)
.jpg)
%20-%20copie.jpg)