Toulouse-based quintet, FELLAS, puts France on the map when it comes to jazz
Quickly emerging as France’s answer to the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD and Yussef Kamaal is Toulouse-based jazz band FELLAS. The brainchild of bandleader and saxophonist Charlie Burg, the band’s approach to creativity is highly influenced by the worlds of fashion and cinema, with Charlie’s French-Italian upbringing leading to an obsession with the rich palette of Italian-American cinema pioneered by the likes of Martin Scorsese.
They’ve just released their new single, “Sillage,” which announces their upcoming EP, NDONTI. The new single aims to transport the listener into the Sergio Leone crime epic called ‘Once Upon A Time In America.’ The track captures the odour of the film’s opium dens in hazy musical form. Built around a haunting Rhodes keyboard loop, with skittering delays and a sleazy backbeat, the track builds into a saxophone-led cacophony, before melting away into a four to the floor two-stepper. “On ‘Sillage,‘ we’ve translated scent into music,” explains Charlie Burg. “[It creates] a warm amber atmosphere that is both captivating and unsettling.”
Alongside Charlie, FELLAS consists of Robin Safaru (drums), Séraphin Vergniot (bass), Robin Espagnet (guitar) and Léo Colman (keyboards) — a group of friends obsessed with the intersection of film, fashion, and music. Their new EP, NDONTI, is set to release via Root Records on Friday 13th September.
FELLAS – SILLAGE
