French Ensemble Mizmar Releases Mixit

French band Mizmar has a new album titled Mixit. The group is now a trio, focusing on a fusion of Middle Eastern music with jazz and electronics. Mizmar is the project of Rodrigue Lecoque, Amethyst’s keyboardist. The group’s first album was the original soundtrack of “Contes De La Main Gauche” (“Tales of the Left Hand”), an anthology written by Guillaume Lecoque. It was made during the autumn and winter 2001-2002, and relates to the Arabian Nights. Mixit revisits some of the pieces from the initial project and also features new acoustic songs.

The inspiration for the Contes De La Main Gauche tales came from photographs captured in Yemen by Guillaume Lecoque. The music included global electronica, trip-hop and progressive rock, through the symphonic aspect of certain pieces. The musicians used samples specially captured in Yemen, facilitating a fusion of western and Middle Eastern music. Influences such as that of Yann Tiersen are also sensible.

Through that album, Rodrigue Lecoque drifts somewhat from the jazz-rock fusion music of his band Amethyst, in order to realize a more personal and intimate opus. This is a way for him to share the whole scope of his musical world.

Since 2012, Mizmar includes Rodrigue Lecoque on keyboards, Nabil Ghannouchi on oud and nay and Agata Nowak on drums and percussion.