Jean-Jacques Rojer

Raís This album is a testimony to Papiamentu, a language spoken in the south Caribbean, and it is an offspring of mostly Portuguese mixed with some […]

VERY LONG READ FOR THE GEEKS, HISTORIANS and ANTHROPOLOGISTS!

These are excerpts of the liner notes of "Ban pas'un ròndu", explaining the different origins of the songs.

At the start of this project I felt the need to educate myself on the origins of the songs I had chosen to put on the album. Harry Moen is a charismatic band leader, musical anthropologist and expert on Curaçao folklore and I knew that he’d be the perfect person to approach for this knowledge quest. He readily agreed to meet up and his accounts, mixed together with some of my own interpretations, are presented here in the following notes.

1.Den hòf’i Shon Arei (In the garden of Shon Arei) - J.J.Rojer.

This song is an hommage to the oral tradition of storytelling. In Curaçao we particularly enjoy the stories about an astute spider called Nanzi. These stories are West African in origin and can be found throughout the Americas. Shi Maria and Shon Arei are all different characters from these tales.

2.Karpinté ta mas ku rei / Ata‘ki mi boka / Mi mamachi (A carpenter is worth more than a king / This is my mouth / My adorable little (grand)mother) - traditional.

The first song in this pot-pourri is a moral message about the worth of the common man versus that of someone from higher standing (if there even is such a thing). “Ata’ki mi boka”, the second piece, comes from the Dutch children song “Dit zijn m’n wangetjes” (These are my cheeks). The last of the three songs,“Mi mamachi”, is about kids drinking a sweet water drink called “aw’i papilon” at a party.

3.Aya na ser’i trapi (Don Pancho) (There on the little hill by the stairs) - P.Flores, R.Palm.

The initial idea for this composition allegedly came from one Pancho Flores whereas the composition itself was done by Rudolph Palm(1880-1950). The song is about a shoemaker called Don Pancho who lived in the old neighborhood of Otrobanda. Located in Willemstad, the Otrobanda neighborhood is a very lively and picturesque place. It’s also where most of my musical heritage comes from. I added the extra characters of “Masita piki pieuw”, the seamstress, and ”Shon Kè”, the carpenter, to this version.

4.The magic of it all - J.J.Rojer / K.R.Van der Kwast.

This track is about that first encounter one has with a child who has just woken up. So a “reverse lullaby” if you will.

5.Tapa kara (Hide and seek) - J.J.Rojer, G.Hollander, J.Córdoba.

Tapa kara ( literally to cover one’s face) is a universal game that’s also played in Curaçao. The lyrics are abstract and playful and the words were
chosen more for their sound than for their meaning.

6.Pobersitu Janchi / Buchi Juan / Ki sort’i balia tin (Poor Janchi / Buchi Juan / What kind of a ball is there) - traditional .

“Janchi” was a “benta” player, benta being a “bow and arrow” like instrument of West African origins. Rats are described doing Janchi’s dishes and this mention of rats doing human chores is found a lot in songs and stories written right after the abolition of 1863. “Buchi Juan” is most likely about a person going to the Santa Barbara plantation house to sell a child into slavery. The trading of slaves was done officially by the government and/or needed to be registered. At Santa Barbara, however, it was done illegally and off the books. “Shon grandi” (big important person) refers to the buyers. The last song of this medley, to end on a happier note, is about a ball where there was music being played with violins and clarinets.

7.Mi mama no tin plaka / Alélimo / Ban, ban pas’un ròndu (My mother has no money /Alélimo / Come let’s make a circle to play) - traditional

The first songs in this medley is about a child of poor parents who is shipped off to The Netherlands and his/her first impressions upon arriving there. “Alélimo” is a song of old Spanish origins and its variants can be found throughout Latin America. I juxtaposed the original Spanish version with the version that is sung in Curaçao. The original version is about a collapsed bridge in need of repair. However, the Lord responsible for fixing up the bridge doesn’t have the funds to do so. Hence the humorous suggestion of using eggshells to carry out the restoration. An interesting note is that the eggshells survived in the Curaçaoan version even though the placement of the word completely differs from the original lyrics. Ban, ban pas’un ròndu is a game in which a child is surrounded by a circle of spinning children. When the song is through the surrounded child, who’s name is used in the song, appoints another child to go stand in the middle, and the whole thing repeats again.

8.Oloshi kèns (Stupid clock) - traditional.

The melody of this song is Latin American while the lyrics may have been written by a priest called P.J.Poiesz (1875-1919). They were written in an attempt to deter the parishioners of a church from stealing money out of the collection basket. The lyrics speak of a ghostly apparition that urges people not to steal.

9.Cabrito (Goat) - traditional.

Finding old Sephardic songs that were sung in Curaçao was very difficult. The main reason for this is the fact that the upbringing of very young children in Jewish families was left in the care of black yaya’s (nannies). This resulted in the vanishing of all the original music (lullabies) brought to Curaçao by the Sephardic communities in the 17th and 18th centuries. After doing ample research I did however find Cabrito, originally called Kavrito, which talks about the fate of a little goat. Kavrito is the Ladino version of the song Had Gadya which is sung by children on the first night of Pesach. This particular version, with Spanish lyrics, is from a May Henriquez book called “Ta asina o ta asana?” (Is it this way or is that way?). Ms. Henriquez (1915-1999) was a writer, artist and historian who heard the song as a kid herself (so early 20th century) from a girl called Meri who used to work as a yaya at her grandmother’s house. Meri’s version of the story/song was titled “Bitu”, which is clearly the last part of the word Kabritu (papiamentu spelling). I concocted the main melody from various existing versions.

10.Kantikanan di hila (Songs of the Hila game) - traditional
Hila is a children’s game in which kids hold hands while spinning in a circle. As they circle they also sing songs and I found 4 such songs in the “Zikinza” collection. This is a body of research on old Curaçao customs and traditions, done mostly in the ’60s by “de facto” anthropologists Pater Brenneker and Elis Juliana. The lyrics are just a play on words that don’t really make any sense. The phrases are strung together in call-response form, always using the last word of the previous line to jump to the next one.

11.Orjunchi - H.O.Booi

Orjunchi is an Aruban traditional composed by Hubert “Obdulio” Booi. It’s an hommage to the trade of fishing and to a fictional fisherman called Orjunchi.

12.Tiptoe - J.J.Rojer/K.R.Van der Kwast

The suffering of children is a reality that I didn’t pay much attention to until I became a parent myself. One of the events that inspired me to write this song was the humanitarian drama that unfolded in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over the country. As I started writing the song the Ukrainian war also broke out. While watching the news on these war-inflicted countries I had to think of all the children that were being split from their loved ones and sent away for safekeeping

13.Hé patu (The duck) - E.Juliana

This rhythmical poem was penned by Elis Juliana (1927-2013) and is about a mother duck scavenging for food for its ducklings.
Elis Juliana was a wonderful writer, storyteller, artist, painter and anthropologist who did a lot for Curaçao and its folklore.

14.Maria ta den kushina (Maria is in the kitchen) - traditional

Maria is in her kitchen when a man, described here as a bull, walks by and starts chatting with her, maybe with romantic intentions. Maybe not. That’s the original song. I added two extra verses to the already existing one, tilting the interactions of Maria and the Bull a little more towards the amorous.

15.Waya waya Kelumambé / Kule kule - traditional

I found these two songs in the Zikinza collection mentioned in track 10. The first of the two is about a mother looking for her lost child, who’s completely covered by tall grass. It is sung from the child’s perspective in a combination of Guene and Papiamentu. Guene is a dead language that was spoken by slaves on the plantations in the countryside. It was used as a secret language to keep the masters from understanding what was being said. The language consisted of African words, taken from various African languages, in their original form, i.e., not distorted and/or merged with other words. The second piece is supposed to be a Chuchubi bird (hippolais icterina) singing on the 8th day after a child’s birth. We don’t know exactly what is being said as the lyrics are entirely in Guene.

16.Luna ku solo / Albert’i Shon Rica Tutuchi (Moon and sun / Alberto of Shon Rica Tutuchi) - traditional

The first piece of this medley is Latin American in origin, and in Curaçao it is sung during the playing of the homonymous game. The second song is about a person called Alberto who is from another person called Shon Rica Tutuchi. This Alberto has but one eye but still manages to see everything. I don’t know if the “from” has to be interpreted as ”beloning to” or if it’s a description of Alberto being the offspring (or husband) of “Shon Rica Tutuchi”. Since he’s responsible for the cooking it is most likely the former.

17.E kriki tocado (The musician cricket) - B.Tromp, R.Odor

E kriki tocado, also known as “Bou mi cama” (under my bed), is an Aruban tune composed by the late Brigido ”Icho” Tromp (1921-2000). Brigido’s son told me that every night at bedtime, a cricket would be heard making sounds under their house, making it impossible for anyone to sleep. The house had wooden flooring. It was during one of these sleepless nights that Brigido came up with the idea for the lyrics of this song. The original musical arrangements were done by Rufo Odor (1935-2017).

18.Mama, tenémi na kas! / Saliendo fo’i Kòrsou / Shon Felecí (Mother, keep me home / Leaving Curaçao / Shon Felecí) - traditional.
The first of the 3 tumba’s on this track is about a girl who believes she is being chased by a lizard. Upon telling this to her mother she gets the response that it’s probably a young man who is chasing her. The second tumba in the medley is about a group of workers from Curaçao who went to Suriname to work as lumberjacks. They all got stung by mosquitos upon arrival and some even ended up getting yellow fever from the bites The third song is about a lady called Shon Felecí who one night, as she was sleeping, heard a noise upstairs in her daughter’s room. She went to check it out, suspecting foul play, and when she got there she saw a young man jumping out of the window and fleeing into the night. She must have given chase or yelled at him because the incident woke up the whole street. When later questioned about it she answered saying that it was just a cat. The neighbors of course knew that she was lying through her teeth and wrote a tambú song about the whole incident Tambú is a genre played mostly around December and January and is used as a vehicle to deliver social commentary and to gossip. It was later made into a tumba by “Orkesta Concordia”.

19.Ta kon nos ta balia / Nos ta bai Hulanda / Turtuga (How do we dance? / We are going to Holland / Turtle) - traditional

The first of these 3 folkloric tunes is a call-response song about walking, sleeping and dancing. The second one parodies the Venezuelan national anthem. The diplomatic relationship between Curaçao and Venezuela was very tense during the 2nd half of the 19th century due to heavy taxes and sanctions imposed by Venezuela on Curaçao by Venezuela’s president of the time, Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1829-1899). Blanco’s enemies would hide and plot against him on the Dutch ABC islands and because of this, all ties between Venezuela and the islands were broken. Blanco also stopped paying back the depth that Venezuela had with The Netherlands and even went so far as to mobilize his troops on the Caribbean coast. The people of Curaçao, who were and still are very dependent on trade with Venezuela, wrote this song as a protest against the crushing sanctions. The French boat, mentioned in the lyrics, used to sail from Curaçao, via La Guaira in Venezuela, to The Netherlands. The last song,Turtuga, uses turtles as a metaphor for persons with different skin colours and features. It mentions the Caret turtle (hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata) which is different in color and features than the Cagauma turtle (Loggerhead,Caretta caretta). The exact meaning of the song is not clear but the djaka (rat), is again mentioned here (see no.6). Also interesting to note is the fact that the Caguama turtle is called a “fake” Caret turtle in Dutch. (Onechte karet schildpad). So it may also be a reference to illegitimate children.

I'm very excited to finally share my new album " Ban pas'un ròndu" with you. Click here to listen https://lnk.to/KscFmPkN
A big thanks to all the great musicians and engineers who worked on the album and I hope you will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it. A very special thanks to Henry van der Kwast for making it all possible. I'm very grateful to have had Hershel Rosario and Yuchi Cordoba as my creative wingmen during the sessions and last but not least, I would also like to thank Harry Moen for all the background information on the old songs and for his rendition of "Hé Patu". Check it out!!

Jean-Jacques Rojer - Ban Pas'un Ròndu Listen to Ban Pas'un Ròndu by Jean-Jacques Rojer.

Pour mes potes en France....

Pierre Fenichel, la connection Jamaïque Pour son nouvel opus “Frenchtown Connection” qui paraît sur Label Durance, le contrebassiste-compositeur Pierre Fenichel a puisé dans la diversité des musiques jamaïcaines ; choc musical émotionnel relié à son adolescence dans le quartier de La Barasse à Marseille.

Bill Milkowski's liner notes on Soko :

Jean-Jacques Rojer
Soko

Though guitarist-composer Jean-Jacques Rojer resides in Amsterdam, just 50 kilometers from where he graduated with a music degree in 2003 from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, his heart remains nearly 8,000 kilometers away in the tiny Dutch island country of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean Sea. It is home for Rojer and where he absorbed the indigenous African-rooted rhythms of tumba, danza, tambú and seú as well as the local muzik di zumbi style. Descending from a long line of acclaimed Curaçaoan musicians (his father Robert Rojer is an accomplished pianist-composer, his great grandfather Jacobo Palm is a renowned multi-instrumentalist and prolific composer, and his great, great, great grandfather Jan Gerard Palm is often referred to as “the father of Curaçao’s classical music), it was probably a fait accompli that Jean-Jacques would follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. But the versatile and talented musician ended up forging his own unique path on the road to Soko, his exciting Afro-Curaçaoan jazz project and third recording as a leader.
“My father’s taste in music kind of seeped through me,” said Rojer. “He was really coming from the European tradition of Francis Poulenc, Alexander Scriabin, Stravinsky, Bach. Those were his favorite composers, so I grew up listening to that. In the house we only used to listen to European classical music as well as classical music from Curacao, which is a Palm family tradition going back 200 years.”
Whether it was a consciously defiant act or just the natural curiosity of a teenager, Rojer gravitated toward rock guitar. “My father tried to give me some piano lessons, but I rebelled. I would just say, ‘No, I'm gonna do it my way.’ In the end, I did learn a lot from him though.”
Strangely, it was a Lenny Kravitz album that ended up turning his head toward jazz. “I remember buying this record because Slash was on it. I was really into rock then and had a Les Paul guitar at home. But there was one track on this album, ‘What Goes Around Comes Around,’ that had a jazz saxophone solo. It completely blew my mind and that got me into that music, basically.”
Jazz guitar greats George Benson and Pat Metheny would later impact Rojer, and you can still hear those influences today in his cleanly articulated, warm-toned lines. His interest in jazz deepened through his college years, first at the University of the Netherlands Antilles and then at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and also through a brief apprenticeship in 2007 with renowned Cuban clarinetist-saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. But Rojer never abandoned the folkloric music of his beloved homeland or the classical music he soaked up from his father.
In 2017, Jean-Jacques paid homage to his own classical roots with his self-produced album, Jean-Jacques Rojer Plays Jacobo Palm, a salute to his great grandfather that featured his father Robert Rojer playing piano on eight tracks. Now with Soko, the Curaçaoan guitarist-composer and defacto ethnomusicologist explores uncharted territory, striking a balance between respecting the African rooted rhythms of the island and stretching into a more modern jazz realm. The results are eminently fresh, undeniably captivating and ultimately enriching.
With producer Brian Bacchus pulling together an all-star crew of veteran Nuyorican bassist John Benitez (Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Ray Baretto, Pedrito Martinez), vibraphonist Warren Wolf (an esteemed composer and bandleader in his own right and longtime member of Christian McBride’s Inside Straight), percussionist and Curaçao native Pernell Saturnino (Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, David Sanchez) and the great Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums, Rojer had his ideal mix of musicians for this stimulating cross-pollination project.
“Even though Curaçao is small, it's got a very rich culture,” said the leader. “Besides our strong African heritage there’s also a lot of American cultural influence there, and we have European influence, politically and economically, because we’re Dutch. The Latin influence comes in because of where we are located in the Caribbean. Everyone is, at least partly, of Latin American extraction — my mom’s family, for example, is from Venezuela — and our language is also Latin derived. So that mixture of all these influences is what I wanted to portray in this music.”
The guitarist plays with rare authority and rhythmic assuredness throughout these 11 tracks, blowing cleanly picked single note lines over shifting Afro-Curaçaoan rhythms while blending with vibist Wolf on intricate heads and delivering richly appointed chordal harmonies. The combination of guitar and vibes may trigger memories of the Pat Metheny-Gary Burton hookup from the ‘70s, but the churning polyrhythmic undercurrents heard throughout Soko put Rojer and Wolf in a very different zone indeed.
On the African flavored 6/8 opener, “Zumbi,” the guitarist and his stellar crew channel ancient spirits on this Rojer original written in the muzik di zumbi style of Curaçao. “In the countryside you have many African styles of music,” he explained. “One is muzik di zumbi, which means ‘music of the ghosts.’ And it’s almost extinct. Also, the language that was used for singing it, Guene, is extinct because the people are not here anymore; they’re ghosts. So this is an ode to the people that have gone and the whole culture that has almost disappeared.”
Having studied old slave recordings extensively in the past, Rojer noticed how closely related the minor pentatonic singing style of muzik di zumbi in Curaçao was to American blues. “One of the things that disappeared from Curaçao culture throughout the years is the modal singing in minor keys,” he explained. “Everything in Curaçao is major, major, major, dominant tonic, dominant tonic. So I wanted to bring that muzik di zumbi quality back on this number, using a specific minor pentatonic mode that I borrowed from Malian music ”
Underscored by Pernell’s entrancing wiri (metal güiro) and informed by a bubbling 6/8 pulse, Rojer applies right hand muting on the strings for percussive (and quintessentially West African) effect before wailing over the top of the polyrhythmic undercurrent created by Benitez, Watts and Saturnino.
“Guiambo”( a Curaçaoan ocra dish similar to gumbo) carries a deep funk feel as Watts fuels the proceedings with a New Orleans style second line groove. “We do have the Carnival culture in Curaçao, so that’s also a connection to New Orleans,” Rojer said. “It’s that bounciness that I wanted for this tune. And when I explained it to Tain, I just wrote the word ‘bounce’ on a sheet of paper and he came back to me and said, ‘Oh, you mean New Orleans!’ He knew exactly what I meant.” Rojer and Wolf shift back and forth between tight unisons and conversational contrapuntal lines on this earthy number. And catch Rojer quoting from Tadd Dameron’s bop anthem “Hot House” in the middle of his energized solo.
Shifting gears from the funky to the sublime, they ease into relaxed ballad mode on “Roce.” Essentially a bolero, this enchanting number strikes a vibe reminiscent of the ‘70s Philly soul group, The Stylistics. Said the composer, “I’m a big fan of ‘70s music — salsa music from the ‘70s, Brazilian music from the ‘70s, funk music from the ‘70s. So maybe that’s where that influence comes from.”
“Ruas,” which means ‘streets’ in Portuguese, opens with a catchy Brazilian baião rhythm before quickly morphing into an all-out swinging affair fueled by Tain’s irrepressible ride cymbal beat and Benitez’s uptempo walking basslines. Rojer holds nothing back here, blowing with boppish facility over the changes. And Wolf follows in kind, revealing his inner Bobby Hutcherson on his own killing solo. ”I intended it to be a baião through the whole song but as we were messing around in the studio I told the guys, ‘At a certain point I wouldn't mind it to go into swing.’ So it’s between baião and swing. And Tain has the capacity to go between those two worlds very organically.”
Rojer pairs with Saturnino, playing udu drum, for a delicate duet reading of the serene danza, “O ma charmante, épargnez-moi!” (“Oh, my charmer, spare me”) by the New Orleans French Creole composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Shifting imperceptibly from minor to major, this romantic work, written in 1854 during Gottschalk’s tour of the West Indies, reveals the guitarist’s classical side. “It was actually written for piano, so I had to transfer it to guitar,” he explained. “And I added some subtle reharmonization to make it a bit more modern.”
From refined and restrained back to pure burn, Rojer unleashes Benson-esque chops on the fiery descarga “Dindin.” Fueled by a distinctly Afro-Caribbean cascara pattern on the shells of Tain’s kit, in combination with Saturnino’s churning conga work, this lively jam features some brilliant improvisations from Wolf and Rojer, each pushing the harmonic envelope while swinging forcefully. (Notice Rojer’s nimble arpeggiating and sweep picking on his fiery solo here, and catch Benitez quoting from “Acknowledgement,” the opening section to John Coltrane’s masterwork, A Love Supreme, at the tag). The composer explained the title: “In Curacao, sometimes we name houses. Dindin is the house of a friend of mine which is located on a cliff overlooking the sea. It’s where musicians go after the North Sea Jazz Festival in Curaçao to hang out, drink beer, watch the sun go down, talk crap. Once we had the whole Snarky Puppy band there jamming and swimming and eating barbecue and drinking. Cassandra Wilson was there last year. Everybody goes there. In fact, that’s where I met Brian Bacchus, who ended producing this album.”
The title track, steeped in a deep 6/8 groove, has Saturnino playing congas and overdubbing wiri. On top of that infectious African pulse, Rojer once again mutes his strings, as he did on “Zumbi,” to percussive effect. Wolf soars on his solo here and Rojer responds with some heat of his own on another outstanding solo. “The term ‘soko’ means marketplace in Swahili,” he explained. “I heard it for the first time a few years back while traveling through Kenya. I immediately liked the sound of the word but also the idea that marketplaces are where cultures and people interact to create new cultures was very intriguing to me.”
The flexible quintet brings a novel twist to Simón Díaz’s “Caballo Viejo,” one of the most well-known folk songs in Venezuela. Traditionally done as a Venezuelan joropo, Rojer and his crew put a Latin clave spin on it. “This 7/4 clave is something I learned from Pernell, who did a similar clave version of Trane’s ‘Impressions’ with Tain and Benitez on Danilo Perez’s 1998 album, Central Avenue. So I veered away from the usual Joropo and redid it as a Latin 7/4.”
Rojer reimagines Kurt Weill’s haunting and romantic ballad, “Speak Low,” with a driving 6/8 pulse. Benitez’s opening bassline, alluding to Wayne Shorter’s “Footprint,” sets the tone on this rhythmically charged interpretation. “I kept the harmony pretty simple but I stretched it a little in the bridge, just to put my stamp on it,” said the guitarist. “And I had Pernell playing udu drum and Tain playing brushes, just to go for something different on it.” Rojer’s solo is relaxed and flowing here while Wolf follows the harmonic contour of the piece before finally erupting on his searching solo. Added the guitarist, “I initially just wanted vibes for the melody parts on this project but when we were in the studio and Warren started comping, it sounded like he was playing a Fender Rhodes to me; very ‘70s-sounding. So it was an added bonus on the session.”
“Saliña” is an exotic mixture of a Polish mazurka rhythm and a zouk rhythm, as played on the French islands. As Rojer explained, “I don’t know how, but Polish mazurkas ended up in the Caribbean, and in fact my great grandfather wrote several mazurkas in his day. So that's what I had in mind for this song, a zouk played in 3/4. Then somehow, Tain started playing a soca in 3/4 on it. That's what he felt, and it sounded so good and so organic that I left it at that.” Rojer and Wolf combine on the intricate, chops-busting head, echoing Eddie Harris’ intervallic signature on “Freedom Jazz Dance.” Each plays an exceptional solo, with Rojer taking his time developing his before finally launching into some impressive licks. Tain is also turned loose on the kit here, against a full band ostinato, for an exhilarating, show-stopping solo.
On the driving Latin-flavored closer, “Brua,” guitar and vibes combine for some angular unions at the outset, recalling the long, complex lines and contrapuntal interaction between pianist-composer Lennie Tristano and his tenor sax protege Warne Marsh. “I'm a big Warne Marsh fan,” said the composer. “I just love the economy of notes and the way he pushes boundaries, especially rhythmically. The way he flows over the bar lines so freely is one of the things that intrigues me the most about his playing. So the basis of the song here is a Latin form with a Latin bassline, and then we throw the cool Tristano-type melody on top of that.” The band settles into an entrancing clave groove as Rojer soars on his solo. Bassist Benitez and percussionist Saturnino also get significant solo tastes on this invigorating closer.
Rojer’s ambitious experiments with rhythm, counterpoint, groove and melody on Soko should score with adventurous listeners. Add in crackling contributions from his crew of first-rate improvisers and you’ve got one of the most potent musical statements of the year. — Bill Milkowski

Bill Milkowski is a regular contributor to Downbeat, Jazziz and Guitar Player magazines. He is also the author of “JACO: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius”

is OUT on Sunnyside Records. With the crazy dream team of Jeff Watts on drums, Warren Wolf on vibraphones, John Benitez on bass and Pernell Saturnino on percussion. I’m beyond happy to have been able to record this music! And also to be able to share it with you! Finally! It's been a long time in the making. Also with Brian Michel Bacchus as the producer of the album. And Fran Cathcart the studio engineer who captured everything. Mixing was done by my buddy Oscar Bor and the mastering by Dave Darlington. I am equally fortunate to have had the likes of Océane Combeau and Kevin Kearney of Stacks Studio taking care of all the artwork. The album design was done by Reggie Dankwa and last but not least I would like to thank Bill Milkowski for writing the beautiful liner notes.
READ them here 👉 https://www.jjrojer.com/about/albums/soko/
I’m looking forward to playing this music for you in person SOON!

Until then you can
STREAM/BUY/SHARE it
here👇
https://songwhip.com/jeanjacquesrojer/soko

Happy to have participated with the making of the soundtrack for this great film. My buddy Quentin Sirjacq composed all the beautiful music and I recorded the mandoline parts

Je suis heureux d’avoir participé à la création de la bande originale de ce beau film. Mon ami Quentin Sirjacq a composé la musique et j’ai pour ma part joué les parties de mandoline .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHfvECGMmdQ&t=2s

PROFESSION DU PERE Bande Annonce VF (2020) Benoît Poelvoorde ● Abonne-toi à la chaine c'est gratuit! ► http://bit.ly/1sHSPQ0PROFESSION DU PERE Bande Annonce VF (extraits), film en français au cinéma le 20 janvier 2021....