Maëla Raoult is a Paris, France-based jazz clarinettist who has just caught my attention thanks to her wonderfully fresh and vibrant new album Hypokrat.
By Graeme Smith
I must confess, I’m not always a fan of jazz but when the right record in the genre comes along, I find it irresistible. That’s exactly what Hypokrat is – twelve tracks of classical-meets-roots compositions, with influences from all around the world from the far east to urban USA.
Its journey starts with its title track, a lively introduction created through percussion and Maëla’s exquisitely expressive playing. I couldn’t help but fall into its exotic groove and be surprised by its improvisations.
Who Walks in When I Walk Out is Maëla’s arrangement of the standard originally composed by Freed, Goodhart and Hoffman. There’s a warmth to her take on this classic. Playful clarinet meets hypnotic drums and licks of guitar. It’s one of two arrangements of standards, the other being album closer Mackie Messer (better known in the English-speaking world as “Mack The Knife”), originally composed by Kurt Weill.
Cannibal is another original composition. It opens with a darkly rich atmosphere, featuring lingering bass notes before evolving into something a little jumpier but no less atmospheric. Orient Express keeps things atmospheric, and is suitably dynamic, creating the sense of the eponymous train in motion. It’s a highlight. La Leche brings with it a sense of whimsy and texture before we reach the album’s final original track, Round up. A funky opening settles into a cantering, hip-hop groove, with a clarinet melody that rises and falls.
Maëla Raoult was born in Brest, in the Brittany region of France. Classically-trained, she’s played the festival circuit including Origami, Courant d’air and Préludes à l’orchestre de Paris. Yet, it was curiosity that brought her to the Parisian jazz scene and the international influences we hear in Hypokrat. I’m so glad she followed her curiosity to produce this album. It’s exciting, boundary-pushing and, most of all, fun. She might make a jazz convert of my yet!
