David Chevallier & Anett Tamm (FRA-EST)

Thursday, June 13, 8 p.m. at Philly Joe's Jazz Club

French guitarist David Chevallier and Estonian singer Anett Tamm perform for the first time as a duo on the stage of Philly Joe’s on June 13. Their concert includes a preview of “Borders”, their own set of original songs to be premiered in France, Finland and Estonia in November-December 2024.  In their duo concert the protagonists explore a new dimension of an inspired artistic fellowship, through a few songs from “Borders”, as well as from the Ophelia songbook - and some other sources of inspiration will be revealed. David Chevallier extends the sound of his acoustic guitar with computer assistance, creating superb landscapes with daring lines of rare elegance and incredibly fluid phrasing; while Anett Tamm gets deeper into her resourceful vocal art looking for new angles in her role as storyteller, cultivating a subtle sort of distance that inspires closer listening. David Chevallier will open the concert with a solo set. 

The collaboration of David Chevallier and Anett Tamm was launched in February 2021 in Estonia. As improbable as it felt in the middle of the Covid pandemic, the David Chevallier Trio and the Estonian rising talent singer went on a tour of five concerts with a live audience, performing “The Ophelia Songbook”, with music by Chevallier and lyrics by Kyrie Kristmanson. This unforgettable experience served as a springboard to “Borders”, a true original collaboration between the guitarist and the singer. The central theme of this new work composed by David Chevallier, set to lyrics by Anett Tamm, is the border – a place where one can move from one universe to another, from one culture to another, where one can face the unknown or confront oneself. 

Brought up in a family of musicians, David Chevallier studied classical guitar and became deeply fascinated by the idea of composing and the notion of improvisation in jazz. In his early years he made a name playing with jazzmen such as Laurent Dehors, Patrice Caratini and John Taylor. He founded his own musical company, the SonArt, which explores the possibilities of creating stimulating bridges between very different musical worlds. He is particularly interested in creating meeting points between baroque music and contemporary jazz. Through these musical emotions, he adopted the theorbo and the baroque guitar which he uses both to play Björk songs and to play in continuo.  But rest assured, David Chevallier has not discarded the electric guitar nor jazz!

Anett Tamm is a singer, improviser and composer who works in projects with diverse sounds and artistic ambitions. Anett’s main projects include the indie-jazz duo TamTam with bass player Karl Tammaru, the alternative folk-pop solo project Alonette, the art-pop band Alfa Collective and the contemporary and improvisational jazz ensembles Anemoon and Kvartnett. As a vocalist, Anett performs in the avant-garde ensemble IHA, led by Raimond Mägi, and in the alt-jazz group The Nonconceptual Art Club. Anett has been collaborating with the French guitarist David Chevallier and his trio since 2021 and performed in several special projects including Kirke Karja’s “Sireenid” and “Valter Ojakäär 100” tribute concerts. With her various ensembles, she has performed at festivals and venues in Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Germany. In the spring of 2022, Anett was awarded the Estonian Jazz Awards Young Jazz Talent prize. 

Tour production: Le Sonart,
Tour support: French Institute of Estonia, Spedidam
Tour booking and tour management: Vapaat äänet