Arnaud Dolmen and Léonardo Montana

ARNAUD DOLMEN and LÉONARDO MONTANA

“If the Caribbean is a “Continent of Islands”, as a reporter and great traveler once wrote, then the record you are now holding in your hands is a continent of music. A whole continent played by Arnaud Dolmen and Léonardo Montana.

In music, as in all art forms, it is not just about being good with your hands. You need to have felt, tasted, seen and experienced, so that each note is complete, filled with what you have to put into it. What exactly do you put into it? Multiple roots, opposing paths, accents? Arnaud Dolmen and Leonardo Montana each have their own, different but not so different.

Let’s begin with Arnaud. A world of his own. The quintessential modern Guadeloupean drummer: versatile, cultured, inspired and inspiring.” Undoubtedly the most musical drummer of them all,” says godfather Mario Canonge. Celebrated in mainland France as well as in Sainte-Anne, Dolmen has become essential. Montana, his partner in crime says, “Arnaud just lives in the moment. He’s a wonderful listener, because he can make everything change in a split second. He’s the epitome of an open-hearted player. He’s so transparent with his feelings that what you hear is who he is, deep down. To get to know Arnaud, you just have to hear him play. ”

Leonardo Montana, a chameleonic Bolivia-born Parisian-by-adoption, few know that at age thirteen, the young Brazilian came to Guadeloupe, where the power of Gwoka left a deep impression on him. “I got overwhelmed by this drum, by the sound coming out of it, which reminded me of sounds from Brazil; in a way I couldn’t explain.” Percussive, orchestral, a master of chiaroscuro, of the harsh and the beautiful, of fire and peace, Montana is a poet.

“One of the most original and intelligent pianists I’ve ever played with,” confides Felipe Cabrera, Cuban bass maestro, who has accompanied Montana for the past twenty-two years. “If I was born again,” Cabrera continues, “I would only play with him.” An inventive dreamer, Leonardo isn’t afraid of taking risks: “Together, we can follow unexpected paths and when we do it properly, it sparks magic.”

From that angle, LéNo was a no-brainer, despite their first live collaborations interrupted by a global pandemic! But the urge to form a two-man band and delve into their shared obsessions was stronger than ever. To talk and blend their accents, to quench their thirst at the wellspring of their elders (Sergius Geoffroy, Gérard Lockel), and to find in the great precursors (“Streams Of Consciousness” by Max Roach and Dollar Brand) the material for discourse unlike any other.