* Setna’s story began in June 2001, when she was invited to a concert by Badjada in Rouen. The Jazz quartet, led by Gilles Wolff (Parisian saxophonist), arrived for the jam session at midnight. * A jam session was held between the musicians from both groups at this moment. This led to the formation of the future rythmical Section of Setna: Nicolas Cande (drums), Christophe Blondel, Florent Gac, Rhodes, and Nicolas Goulay on the keyboards. Badjada was in search of a drummer at the time. Nicolas Cande was also looking for musicians to create a first repertoire. * The young rythmical section was strengthened by the addition of Nicolas Aneme (saxophones and bass clarinet), who was already a Badjada member. * The musicians began a rigorous planning process for rehearsals in september 2003, during which the first musical works started to emerge with a familiar structure and atmosphere. Gradually, the instruments began to evolve (moog synthesizer, fender bass tuned to quinta and fender rhodes), which led to a more progressive sound. * The time passed and Nicolas Cande met Sylvain Gan’rio, a vocalist who joined the group in April 2004. The group was then formed. It was named Setna. Its purpose is to express musically the path to awakening conscience. This demarche implied a certain quality of life for the musicians, such as an inward personal progress. The term progression is consistent with the school for “progressive music”, which Setna is clearly related to. * The group moved to l’Oreille Qui Traine in september, where it added new music and began a new year of rich musical experiences. * 2005 began with a residence at the “Gare aux Musiques”, Louviers (27). This period saw the completion of about an hour and fifteen minutes worth of music for the first concert to be held in the premises. * The group then settled down at the MJC Rouen–Gauche until the second and first concerts of April. The work sessions resulted in three new songs and one light creation. * The work sessions resulted in new musical arrangements being created for the June 09 concert at Triton (Les Lilas), which was part of the “Les Tritonales”, a Jazz festival devoted progressive music. * Setna and Natacha met up again at Rouen Conservatoire one month later to work on new arrangements. * The group changed throughout 2006. Natacha Jouet joined in January as a vocalist. Guillaume Laurent joined in May as a soprano-saxophonist. This new Setna led to a complete overhaul of the repertoire. After two months of rehearsals, the group was ready to perform at the “Terraces du Jeudi”, a Rouen festival on June 6. * The “Sesame Workshop” was also established. This group is a collection of musicians who want to share their musical aesthetics, such as jazz and progressive music. Xing Sa and Setna are currently part of this workshop. The emulation has led to a gradual rise in musical movements, which is resulting in more musicians being introduced. * Setna was in the “Gare aux Musiques” studio just before fall to record the album “Cycle I”. The rythmical part was recorded between 11 and 14 september. The vocals, the soprano saxophone and some invited musicians were recorded between 25 and 27 september (Mathilde Maisese : voice, Yves Marie Dien : percussions). On 6 November, the rythmic returned to record the final part of the repertoire. This was with James Mc Gaw (guitarist of the Magma band) and Benoit Bugeia (“fender rhodes”) as the invited musicians. * The sessions took place at the “Gare aux musiques”, 7-9 november, and then at Sesame from 22 november through 10 february. Mixing the record was done at the Yves Labbe Studio from 12 March to 4 September. The sessions eventually gave birth to the sound of “Cycle I “…”. Udi Koomran, who added the final touches to “Cycle I”, ensured that the transition from mixing to master recording took place. Sesame provided the graphic design for the CD with the help of Kokor, a drawer who has been responsible for the Setna logo and spiral since 2004. * The CD was released under Alain Lebon’s Soleil Zeuhl Label on Saturday, February 9th. Soleil Zeuhl in France, Wayside in the US, and Marquee Japan ensure the distribution channel. from http://sesame7.free.fr
