Whisper of a Shadow Opus 1

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Whisper of a Shadow Opus 1 is the first in a series of albums that follows the musical creative exploration of French composer and trumpeter Yohan Giaume tracing the musical diaspora between Europe, Africa and America. Through the 19th century lens of Louisiana romantic composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s journey, the album is a result of an imagined conversation between two composers – Gottschalk, a Louisiana native of creole descent and the album’s conceptualist, Yohan Giaume – representing two different eras and two different cultures, New Orleans and France.

The parallel routes taken by Giaume and Gottschalk 200 years apart – and their mutual interest in Afro-Creole and vernacular music – inspired the birth of Whisper of a Shadow, a dialogue between the Romantic era and our Contemporary world through an adventurous musical “conversation” between two composers from two eras and cultures.

In this first opus, imagined as a musical travelogue, Giaume weaves a marriage between the European musical world of the Romantic era and the African-American culture of New Orleans where this journey begins. The multicultural environment of 19th century New Orleans echoes through African-Creole melodies, opera arias, romantic poetry, rhythms of Congo Square and its Caribbean influences, brass bands, minstrel shows, gospel, and burial music, but also through lush jazz orchestrations sublimated by textures of chamber music.

Yohan Giaume collaborates with renowned musicians from both sides of the Atlantic with an emphasis on New Orleans based artist, Evan Christopher (who also co-directed with Yohan the compositional interpretations). Amongst the 23 artists on the project feature drummer Herlin Riley, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Roland Guerin, pianist Aaron Diehl and a French string quartet. Other special guest is poet Chuck Perkins; accented by Caribbean percussionists and singers as well as Louisiana-based trombonists and tubists.