Additional Information
Lara Somogyi’s harp and Jean-Michel Blais’s piano conversed in the Californian desert, more precisely in Joshua Tree, where the musician lives with her husband Cyrus Reynolds. Jean-Michel had been invited as a friend and… once there, pianist and harpist improvised for a few hours together, and here we are, with over 35 million listens to this improvisation that became an album on the recommendation of Lara’s composition production partner and spouse. For Quebec music lovers, Jean-Michel Blais’ reputation is well established, but the biographical profile of his Francophile American colleague is less well known, as you can see in this interview with Alain Brunet. In addition to her work as a composer and performer, Lara is also a much sought-after studio harpist in the USA, both for the audio world and for film and television. Her credits speak for themselves, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Rufus Wainwright, Bonobo, Terence Blanchard and even Hans Zimmer. Jean-Michel Blais and Lara Somogyi’s album Desert was released at the end of the winter, and its live version will be presented for the very first time at the Gesù, this Saturday, July 5, as part of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
