SIMON HO + THE OTHERS
Simon Ho lives and works in Brussels and Bern as a pianist and composer.
He writes film, theatre and dance music, composes for orchestras and choirs.
He plays with his own projects in Europe, North and South America.
Simon Huw Jones: Vocals, (1/3/5/7/9)
Lyrics (1/5/7)
Amèl Sdiri: Vocals (2/8/9)
Françoiz Breut: Vocals (4/7/9)
Andi Hug: Drums, Percussion
Gil Mortio: Producer, Co-Composition,
el.Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion,
small instruments, Mixing
Simon Ho: Composition, Fender Rhodes,
Piano, Keyboards, Lyrics (3/9), Co-Producer
Abū Nuwās: Lyrics (2/4/8)
Answering Machine: Andi, Shelley, Gigi, Juan,
Margarida, China, Josh
Recorded, Produced & Mixed by Gil Mortio @ Studio Marcel Delcourt – Bruxelles (BE)
Mastered by André Pousaz @ Pousaz Sound Lab –
Bern (CH)
Photos: Simon Ho
Graphic Design: Shift Studio – Bruxelles (BE)
In collaboration with
(ENG below)
Le projet est né autour du LP "DIARY", album de voyage collaboratif dans lequel le musicien helvète rassemble la chanteuse Françoiz Breut (FR), le producteur multi instrumentiste Gil Mortio (BE), le batteur Andi Hug (CH), la violoniste Catherine Graindorge (BE), le chanteur d’ « and Also the Trees » Simon Jones (UK) & la chanteuse Amel Sdiri (TUN).
Fort d’une carrière qui l’a mené de NYC à Buenos Aires en rayonnant depuis la Belgique, le compositeur Suisse défend une musique de l’instant, orchestrale où la forme se déploie
librement avec en toile de fond cette attention toute particulière pour le texte et la couleur des mots.
Autour d’une dizaine de nouvelles compositions Ho poursuit son exploration du monde, déroulant paisiblement 10 atmosphères précieuses qui empruntent tour à tour au jazz, à la pop, à l’americana et à la balade sensuelle. Sans jamais tourner à l’exercice de style ou à l’appropriation déguisée la musique se livre singulièrement, sans artifice comme si cette balade belgo suisse allait de soi, qu’elle avait toujours existé.
Entièrement enregistré à Bruxelles le disque a été façonné à quatre mains, Gil Mortio a enregistré tous les morceaux, collaboré aux mélodies et peaufiné chaque arrangement.
The project was born around the LP "DIARY", a collaborative travel album in which the Swiss musician brings together singer Françoiz Breut (FR), multi-instrumentalist producer Gil Mortio (BE), drummer Andi Hug (CH), violinist Catherine Graindorge (BE), the singer of "and Also the Trees" Simon Jones (UK) & the singer Amel Sdiri (TUN).
With a career that has taken him from NYC to Buenos Aires, while radiating from Belgium, the Swiss composer advocates a music of the moment, orchestral where the form unfolds freely with, as a backdrop, this very particular attention to the text and the colour of words. Across a dozen new compositions, Ho continues his exploration of the world, peacefully unfurling 10 precious atmospheres that borrow in turns from jazz, pop, americana and the sensual ballad. Without ever turning into a style exercise or a disguised appropriation, the music delivers itself singularly, without artifice, as if this Belgian-Swiss ballad was a given, as if it had always existed. Entirely recorded in Brussels, the album was shaped with four hands; Gil Mortio recorded all the tracks, collaborated on the melodies and refined each arrangement.