Bonbon Flamme's founder, cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, has long been recognised as one of the leading figures on the French jazz scene, and in recent years he has been gaining recognition across Europe with a growing number of French and international groups, including Kutu. BMC has also played its part in this success, with the release of his latest, highly successful duo album with Leïla Martial.
Bonbon Flamme’s first album was one uninterrupted flow of improvisational music. This time, the quartet of French, Portuguese and Belgian musicians have chosen a slightly different approach: the avant-garde, noisy sound has been toned down to allow a more polished, yet extremely spicy and intense musical world to come to the fore. In January 2024, Ceccaldi returned home from Mexico full of inspiring experiences: the vibrant colours of nature and streets, the acidity of lemon, the sweetness of avocado, the fire of chilli pepper, the omnipresent violence and death, the relationship with ancestors and with religion… These experiences are captured in the compositions for Bonbon Flamme's new recording, elaborated together with his bandmates. Childish melodies and rhythms burst into a jungle of sounds, then giving way to almost meditative, eerily beautiful moments.
In their hyper-colourful, handcrafted collage, freedom, tenderness and wild beauty come together in an experience that is at once sour, sweet and spicy.