biographies

biography

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Jessica Constable has performed, composed, improvised in a wide variety of artistic contexts and projects as leader, co-leader and soloist singer and/or side-person. She uses improvisation extensively with stream of consciousness lyrics in English (albeit with funny syntax). She also sings songs mostly in English. Constable explores the details of sound and syllables; twisting harmonics, under or over pronouncing, leaning on or skimming over the relationships of sounds/words/ of intervals; their function sense, paradox, emotivity or sensuality.

MUSIC / PROJECTS

Recent and/or ongoing projects include: concerts and recordings with Philippe Gelda. Touring with Ellery Eskelin, Andrea Parkins and Jim Black, and recording with Eskelin, Parkins & Black plus Marc Ribot and Melvin Gibbs (USA). Performances of "Legendes Oublies" by Anahit Simonian, concerto written for (her) voice, doudouk (Araik Bahtakian - doudouk and zorna) and symphonic orchestra (Alexander Sladkovsky - conductor) at The Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia), concerts and recording with Jeff Sharel and Jean-Phi Dary (France), with Soulreactive (France), several recordings with The Flow (U.K.), concerts with Francois Jeanneau's Pandemonium (France), concerts and recordings with Andrea Parkins (USA).

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LONG BIOGRAPHY

BEGINNING IN BRISTOL (I was born in Bristol,) AND DEVON (but then moved to Devon when I was six)

This is where I wrote my first song; it's a hill called "The Balls" (although here you can only see one of the pair). I got a guitar for my seventh birthday and a kind man taught me two chords with which I made a song called "now if you remember". The wonderful singer, Julie Tippetts heard me play and asked me if she could use the song for her

next album. (Julie Tippetts -Sunset Glow - RCA1974). I received a royalties cheque in dollars which I thought was amazing.

FRAUD

Until I was fifteen I had classical lessons on several instruments but, although it provided a great musical background, I gave them all up because I didn’t get the exaltation other musicians seemed to have and I just felt like a fraud.

SOCK DRAWER ( in Derby (U.K.) from age 11 to 22)

But I did get the musical fulfilment I was looking for from improvising; mostly on the piano and sometimes singing at the same time. I also enjoyed composing. So I

continued with my own music, but in secret so as not to draw attention to myself. Sometimes I recorded my songs on cassettes and hid them in the sock drawer.

. Thanks to the help and encouragement of friends and family, when I was 22 I decided to do some drawing, painting and sculpture. I got a place to do a fine art foundation course in Bath where I did some bizarre and not very good art. Strangely, my horrible work provoked so much controversy within the school, that I felt more comfortable playing the piano and singing than working in the painting studio. My music was better received than my ‘fine’ art. I wanted to be a pianist but had no cash or talent; singing seemed easy, free, and portable.

TOULOUSE AND BECOMING A SINGER

I met pianist and singer Philippe Gelda in Toulouse and stayed there off and on, for over a decade. Philippe and I spent several years improvising and composing together and the music we developed and continue to make is among the most precious things in my life.

During 1992/3 I lost my voice completely for 9 months (singing turned out to be harder than I'd thought). A clever voice coach (Benjamin Montignon) got my voice back for me in a jiffy, then for a couple of years I took lessons with a very talented teacher called Christiane Sans, who also had a monthly salon with cakes and fizzy pop and I witnessed the incredible vocal harmonics of some wonderful lyrical singers, in particular Ruben Velasquez (tenor) who was often there. I worked diligently at technical exercises for two humbling years. When I decided I'd got enough technical competence to ensure I wouldn't lose my voice again, I stopped my formal training and went back to improvisation and dirty singing.

NEXT BIT

I moved to the Pyrenees and spent about 6 months composing pieces for 4 voices.

I became interested in concrete music, spacial construction, and spoken/ documentary voice recording.

I then spent a few years working as an actor with French theatre and dance companies (including Klassmvte/Groupe Hortense- Pascal Delhay, Theatre 2 L'Acte - Michel Matthieu) which taught me more about stage presence, physical movement and about constructing pieces in and for a particular environment. I had the chance to enjoy improvising, composing and performing with many musicians, actors and dancers in Toulouse but particularly with Thomas Fiancette, Joe Doherty, Fred Cavellin, Patricia Ferrara, Marc Demereau, Matthieu Sourisseau, members of the Complot Ultra Frele (Eric Pailhe, Stephanie Marchesi, Pascal Rey, Pascal squal), Dimitri Capitain, Christine Monlezun. Philippe Gelda and I started a project called Les Maitres Corbeaux , and wrote a series of "suites" to be played in specific places with performances which are among my favourite musical experiences.

AMERICAN

Ellery Eskelin saw Philippe and I performing a suite for prepared piano and voice at the Jazz in Luz festival in France in 2000 and he invited me to guest with his trio with Andrea Parkins and Jim Black at Festivals in France and in New York. In 2004 Ellery

invited me, Marc Ribot and Melvyn Gibbs to record an album with Eskelin, Parkins and Black for Hathut Records (Ellery Eskelin - Ten, Hathut 2004). I then toured Europe with the trio in the autumn. Ellery says I'm in the band now, which is v. cool.

PARIS

Touring with Eric Pailhe's Massacre Prive (spoken word and improvised drum and bass) in Jan 2002 was a chance to meet and play with drummer David Aknin and he and I discovered such similar song writing tastes (when playing each other our piano compositions we discovered we'd actually written the same piece.. give or take a

couple of bars...) that we decided to get a band together to play our songs and the band was called Soulreactive ( with Arnaud Roulin, Maxime Delpierre and Sylvain Daniel).

I also met some other musicians in Paris and have been recording the music of Paul Levis, playing that of Francois Jeanneau in his legendary big band Pandemonium ( I may as well list the rest of the band: Vincent Peirani,Thomas de Pourquery, Daniel Zimmerman, Airelle Besson, Sylvain Rifflet, Joe Quitzke, Emil Spanyi, Francois Jeanneau, Jean-Jacques Justafre, Didier Havet, Sebastien Boisseau, writing and improvising live with Jeff Sharel and Jean-Phi Dary (and joining us Julien Loureau, Magic Malik, DJ Oil ), performing a concerto by Anahit Simonian for voice (me), doudouk (Araik Bahtakien) and symphony orchestra (conducted by Alexander Sladkovsky) at The Hermitage, St Petersburg (2003) as well as teaming up with various members from the energetic band of musicians from the scene whose recordings later became the initial catalogue of Chief Inspector Records (Paris) and in particular Le Crepuscule: Laurent Bardainne, Philippe Gleizes, Arnaud Roulin, Nicholas Villebrun, Vincent Taeger. Some great ideas and great concerts.

I now live happily in Brittany.