An unusual musical collaboration

Interesting Duet

These French artistes, both of whom have a long and talented history of playing their respective instruments, came together to offer the audience a series of soulful as well as energetic songs.

This extremely rare combination of the piano and the trombone was truly a treat for the ears of everyone assembled for the concert.

Jamal Moqadem, who started playing the piano at the age of five, is an experienced musician who has also obtained a master’s degree from the prestigious institute, Lyon National Conservatoire. Eric Le Chartier is a solo trombonist in the Opera de Lyon National Orchestra. He has played along with Jamal Moqadem several times before, especially in the Opera de Lyon.

While the first half the concert focussed primarily on French music which relied heavily on the trombone, the second half featured many different jazz classics, which mostly included both the piano as well as the trombone.

Talking about the concert and how excited he was about it, Eric Le Chartier said that this was a grand occasion for both Jamal Moqadem as well as himself, as this was their very first visit to this country.

“It’s our first time in India, and it’s probably also the first time that all of you have heard this combination of both the trombone and the piano,” he said to those assembled at the concert. 

The classical pieces that comprised the first segment of the concert included some old-time favourites such as the 1945 classic ‘Autumn Leaves’, or Les Feuilles Mortes a piece by Joseph Kosma and ‘On Green Dolphin Street’, composed by Bronislau Kaper. The audience was enthralled by the talent and skill displayed by Eric Le Chartier, who exhibited a complete mastery over the trombone, a difficult instrument to play. This was followed by renditions of ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’, by Frank Churchill and ‘My Romance’ by Richard Rodgers.

After a short interval, the second half of the musical duet began. This time, the focus was more on jazz classics, with heavy emphasis on both the trombone as well as the piano. The audience was stunned by the skillful delivery of classics like ‘Beautiful Love’ by Victor Young as well as Chega de Saudade by Antonio Carlos Jobim, by the two musicians.

This was accompanied by other favourites such as ‘In a Sentimental Mood’, composed by Duke Ellington, ‘My Funny Valentine’, by Richard Rogers and ‘Stella By Starlight’, a piece by Victor Young.