An otherwise mellow Monday night in Brooklyn this past fall brought the rare opportunity to see French firebrand Hadrien Feraud up close, in clinic and performance at the new Park Slope location of Matthew Garrison’s vital ShapeShifter Lab. The occasion was an off night from Hiromi’s U.S. tour in support of her latest incendiary outing, Sonicwonderland [Telarc, 2023], which features her new quartet, Sonicwonder, comprised of Feraud, drummer Gene Coye, and trumpter Adam O’Farrill. With Feraud and Coye available, Garrsion booked trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr. to somewhat replicate the touring ensemble for this intimate, informal session. Hadrien discussed and demonstrated the ways in which Garrison influenced him, and both bassists spoke about learning from French chordal master Dominique DiPiazza. Their exploratory set included Garrsion and Feraud originals, and Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance.” Afterward, I spoke to Hadrien about Hiromi’s new band and record, which finds him more than holding his own as a fretboard conversationlist with the virtuoso Japanese pianist/composer, while also mind-locking with Coye on constantly morphing grooves.
For Feraud, it all began with a call from Hiromi in 2016 asking him to replace an ailing Anthony Jackson on the remainder of a world tour, at the recommendation of then Hiromi drummer Simon Phillips. For the Sonicwonderland project, Hadrien was the first musician Hiromi recruited, and he recommended Coye, who he dubs, “L.A.’s best kept secret on drums.” He adds, “Gene is the most well-rounded drummer in town. He has the ability to instantly fit into any style, drawing from a rich history of playing and listening, and he’s always tasteful and spot on.” With O’Farrill in place on horn, Hiromi sent everyone MIDI demos of the songs (some were part of her One Minute Portrait initiative on YouTube during the pandemic) and they rehearsed together to flesh out their parts. From there, the quartet did a string of dates in California and Minneapolis to hone the music before heading to Skywalker Sound Stage in Nicasio, California to cut the 9-track album last May. Feraud reports, “We recorded everything live in the same room and then we all had the opportunity to do overdubs and fix a few things. But we left some imperfections on there to retain the live feel.”
Speaking to the creative process at play, Hadrien offers, “The key with Hiromi is she’s writing with you in mind. So she had my style in her ears when she wrote the songs and the bass parts. I function as the bassist in the heads, but Hiromi likes to counter that with sections that are totally open. And for those she sometimes likes to provide the low end, so I’ll move up higher. In the open and soloing sections we’re four equal voices. We interpret the written sections and for the rest it’s about interaction and being spontanous—listening to each other.” He acknowledges, “Hiromi is someone who truly lets you be who you are, which makes this one of the most fun bands I’ve ever been in. Whereas sometimes you play with heroes and legends and it might not be as open as you think. In this group everyone is themselves.”
When it came to choosing gear for the record, Feraud turned to his signature Mayones Jabba HF 5-string, specifically his antique brown fretted model and his white-with-gold-hardware fretless model. Both sport Elixir Nickel Plated Steel Nanoweb Bass Strings [.40-.60-.75-.90-.135] and were recorded direct only. On tour he is plucking his fretted Sherwood Green Mayones Jabba HF 5-string through a Markbass Little Mark III head and Markbass Standard 104R cabinet. His pedalboard includes a Markbass MB Octaver, TC Electronic Shaker Vibrato, TC electronic Stereo Chorus + Pitch Modulator & Flanger, Strymon Flint V2 Tremelo & Reverb, and a Morley Optical Volume Pedal. Of the essential last pedal he reveals, “I started using a volume pedal pretty early on, when I landed my first important gig in Paris, at 18. I was having some volume issues and a guitarist hipped me to using a volume pedal to more easily control my volume. Then I began to hear how it was being utilized by Anthony Jackson, Matt Garrison, and Linley Marthe. That helped me realize how expressive you can be with one. It’s an extension of me in that it lets me be interactive with the dynamics of the music. If I could only bring one pedal on a gig it would be a volume pedal.”
The album opens with the stately swung funk of “Wanted,” which is meant to present the band members. Indeed, Feraud has an early step-out and an octaver and chorus-shaded solo late. Equally key is his use of palm-muting to deaden notes to varying degrees behind the solos of Hiromi and O’Farrill. He relates, “That comes from trying to sound like James Jamerson and then hearing what players like Anthony Jackson, Marcus Miller, and Gary Willis did in the developing the use of the palm to mute and the thumb to pluck. When I got my three-finger technique going from hearing Dominique, Matt, and Linley, I applied it my thumb-and-palm muting by incorporating my middle and index fingers, as well. There are gigs where I’ll play that way for most of the night.” He continues, “I noticed that if I move my right palm closer to the neck it doesn’t mute the strings as much, so you get an edge to the notes because the strings are looser and they snap a little more. It’s a new color I’ve added to my repertoire and I use it on this song.”
The title track is full-tilt funk fusion, with Feraud doubling Hiromi’s techno-y left-hand line out of the gate. He then settles into a serious, fat-toned ostinato with intermittent slapping that percolates beneath the solos of O’Farrill and Hiromi. He allows, “I have both pickups and the treble knob all the way up, and I’m using a technique that’s equal parts palm mute, thumb and finger plucks and thumb and finger slaps and pops. It’s very reminiscent of Victor Wooten and it’s common in the gospel world.” As for the dialoguing between him, Coye, and the soloist, he notes, “I’m constantly listening to Gene and the soloist, and we feed off of each other. The soloist is the focus and Gene and I facilitate his or her ideas. We lay it down to always have a foundation but most of the time we’re interacting. So for example, if Hiromi plays a rhythmic figure, we’re going to either go with her or answer it, which she loves. The improvisational music scene in Paris is very similar, so I grew up doing that. We called it question and answer playing.”
The first ballad, the evocative “Polaris,” is the lone track featuring Feraud’s fretless, and it boasts his arching solo amid some changing colors. He shares, “Hiromi’s direction is pretty broad, from classical to swing to contemporary grooves; her music is very cinematic. When you get a demo of one of her songs and play it, you know there are going to be some surprises.” Also on the laid-back side is the inspiring vocal tune, “Reminiscence,” sung by and co-written with Hiromi’s longtime friend, keyboardist Ollie Rockberger. States Hadrien, “If it had been a one-off pop session I probably would have played less but Hiromi wanted to retain the sound and approach of the band, so I tried to add my voice while keeping in mind what the song called for.”
Feraud is given a blank page to start the mysterious “Go Go,” and he draws from his extensive vocabulary, utilizing chords, sinister-sounding effects, sheets of sound note flurries, and muted ostinatos before the band trickles in, with the sonic stage set. Meanwhile, “Up” harkens back to Hiromi’s trio with Jackson and Phillips, riding an urgent Latin groove and giving Coye a showcase. Hadrien recalls, “Coming up in Paris there was a fair amount of Afro Cuban and Brazilian music on the scene, so I got the sound of tumbaos and South American grooves in my ears.”
The Weather Report-reminiscent “Trial and Error,” finds Feraud most in his element, from his role to his sound. “It’s my ideal and most-used tone,” he reports. “I back off on the neck pickup a tiny bit so that I can get the back pickup bite but still retain the presence and round-ness. It’s a sound I first developed on my Ken Smith Burner Basses, which had a mid-boost. On my Mayones basses I have a mid-boost, which enables me to get that bite even when both pickups are full on.” As for his percolating part that provides an edge to the pulse in seven, he says, “That’s the influence of players like Jaco, Victor Bailey, Richard Bona, Étienne M’Bappé, and Matt on John McLaughlin’s The Heart of Things: Live in Paris [Polygram, 2000]. This track also has some elements of ‘Blue – Note 3’ from Weather Report’s Domino Theory [Columbia, 1984].”
“Utopia” is a Feraud feature, given his handling of the opening and closing melody and his nuanced, extensive solo. “Hiromi started writing it during COVID and then she released a video of her and I playing three of the sections,” he relates. “From there she made it into a full song.” Hadrien solos again on the record-closing “Bonus Stage,” a humorous blend of Vaudeville two-feel meets video game soundtrack. Overall, Feraud is proud of the record and of the unit’s growth on tour, noting that live they take the music’s open sections even further “out.” He feels more development is ahead, as Sonicwonder dates continue well into 2024, with hopefully a second record to follow. Meanwhile, Hadrien continues to work on his next solo record—a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2015 sophomore effort, Born in the ’80s—for which he has released two singles. While his ultimate goal is to tour with his own band, Feraud’s unyielding quest to innovate is a challenge he accepts everytime he straps on his bass.
Two Hadrien singles:
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By: Chris Jisi