Vévés Électriques Kham Meslien

• 1 KåR 01:20
• 2 Negras 04:06
• 3 Bâtons ciseaux 02:52
• 4 Vaisseaux fantômes 04:23
• 5 Amnésies 01:45
• 6 Marbendil 03:33
• 7 Wata 01:24
• 8 Guerillons 02:34
• 9 Øli 01:12
• 10 Colère Créole 05:41
• 11 Bwa Flô 04:28
• 12 NeÜ 01:52
• Total Runtime 35:10

Info for Vévés Électriques

Following the critically acclaimed Fantomes Futurs, praised by FIP, France Inter, Radio Nova and the international jazz press, double bassist and composer Kham Meslien returns with Veves electriques, a deeply immersive second album where memory, landscape and improvisation merge into a singular sonic journey. Joined by Laurent Bardainne, Roger Raspail, Naissam Jalal and David Neerman, Meslien expands the intimate language of his double bass with subtle loops and organic textures, weaving together echoes of Iceland, the Caribbean and imagined territories.

Blending spiritual jazz, contemporary classical influences and ambient soundscapes, Veves electriques is an invitation to drift beyond geography and into a profoundly personal exploration of emotion, identity and freedom.

Set upon an oil-smooth sea, an immense range of directions opens up before Kham Meslien for Veves Électriques, his second album after Fantomes... Futurs.

With only his double bass and bow as vessel and sextant, a distant journey nevertheless begins to take shape. Vibrations and the striking of strings against wood quickly trace lines and winding paths across the surface of the water—so many routes to follow before leaving them behind, allowing the outward journey to become an inward voyage as well.

After an improvisation intended to shed light on the course ahead, isolated lands came into view: the shores of Iceland, the lands of the far north, places cut off from the rest of the world by vast expanses of water. Islands battered by a harsh climate that can only be endured by drawing warmth from deep within oneself.

Then the Caribbean arc appeared. The archipelago, a setting for joyful and unsettling experiences, takes Kham back to a childhood from which the passing years have carried him away. Rather than following the conventional channel of the music of these places, the West Indies emerge through memories whose colors are still vivid.

Through the morning mist, Roger Raspail’s percussion locks into the same frequencies of the groove. Double bass and struck skins then become companions on a road that intersects with Laurent Bardainne’s saxophone. Carrying a dreamlike message, David Neerman’s vibraphone also joins the narrative to write a few chapters of its own, while others are enchanted by the flute and voice of Naïssam Jalal, or struck by the metaphorical rhymes of rapper Roce.

On the surface, through the themes along which the pieces navigate, landscapes slowly reveal themselves and change shape as the shore draws nearer or recedes. Straying from the marked course and allowing oneself to drift, breaking free from pure acoustic sound by adding loops first played live and then sampled, allows Kham to explore the depths. The depths of the ocean, as well as those of his soul. To enter a world of improvisation that reveals itself even as he explores it. Examined up close, feelings become shells to pick up and hold to one’s ear, so that they can be felt intensely until they take material form.

This sea, which had appeared peaceful, became the stage for a succession of stories and images, which then accumulated to give birth to a larger narrative.

Kham Meslien, double bass

Kham Meslien
roams freely from Iceland to the Caribbean, broadening his horizons surrounded by a select group of guests: Naïssam Jalal, Rocé, David Neerman, Laurent Bardainne and Roger Raspail.

A sought-after artist known for his singular voice, Kham Meslien has shared the stage and collaborated on projects with some of the most renowned names in music, including Robert Plant, Robert Wyatt, Archie Shepp, Richie Havens, Tinariwen, Justin Adams, Vincent Ségal, Erik Truffaz, Anthony Joseph, Magic Malik and Airelle Besson. Following Fantômes… Futurs (2022), Kham Meslien continues to explore a music in which silence, space and resonance become territories in their own right.

Inspired by the shores of Iceland, the landscapes of the Far North and echoes of the Caribbean, he composes a series of inner landscapes where improvisation, memory and sound unfold with profound freedom. Moving between acoustic breath, subtle loops and wide-open horizons, Vévés électriques invites the listener into a contemplative experience, where geographical travel gradually fades away, giving way to an inward journey.

"A captivating musical adventure, where the virtuoso's strings transport us to memories of ancient music, Gnawa rhythms, Afro-descendant music, charango, jazz, and even electronic sounds." - Radio Nova

"A trip in complete intimacy, never demonstrative (he has passed his age), made of sounds and assonance, sensations and silence." - Libération

"A statement of impressions of which the double bass is his brush. A vigorous double bass playing instinctively dark or luminous moments, imaging stories that transport the ear to climates without anteriority. [...] a caravan of emotions [...] an upward journey that we wish to repeat." ​- Jazz Magazine "Révélation !"

This album contains no booklet.