One of the things I have learned in recent years is the value of seeking out the best musicians and building long term relationships. A friend of mine and longstanding musician commented “Always play with people better than you!” Never a truer word was spoken!
I met Laurent Zeller at The Lagoa Guitar Festival a few years ago when my band The Small Change Diaries was supporting his trio Les Kostards. Laurent Zeller and the other members of the trio are extraordinary musicians and Laurent was good enough to have us all play an encore at the festival.
In “the music business” often artists look after their own concerns and its rare that there is an attitude of sharing and reciprocation. I’m a big fan of both these elements and have found it leads to mutually successful long term relationships. This was one of the reasons I set up Music for The Head and Heart which is all about collaboration and avoiding the niche stereotypical categorisations that in my view a problem for the music business
After the Lagoa festival. Laurent was kind enough to play on some of the Small Change Diaries 2nd album “Lullabies for Cynics” and came over to the UK to play at the launch party. As usual he was brilliant. Since then Laurent has become a great friend and terrific sounding board for great musical advice. He was good enough to contribute to this promo clip for the album
There’s no substitute for experience and Laurent has this in spades as well as a wicked sense of humour and a great attitude of sharing so rare in the music industry. Below is one of the many clips you can find online of him playing with all manner of musicians.