Clutchy Hopkins, en boucle ces temps-ci

Une ombre de mystère plane sur Clutchy Hopkins.

Personne ne semble vraiment savoir de qui il s'agit et les rumeurs les plus folles vont bon train, envisageant qu'il s'agit d'un grand producteur ayant souhaité sortir un projet anonyme ou tout simplement d'un quidam qui souhaitait percer dans la musique sans pour autant s'afficher.

La biographie de sa page myspace en fait une sorte de légende au parcours fascinant...J'aime l'idée qu'il y a derrière tout ça un mec qui s'amuse pas mal à se bricoler une fausse identité. D'ailleurs hop, je t'évite d'aller la chercher, je la glisse ici :

Clutchy Hopkins is a multi-instrumentalist who recorded under various pseudonyms throughout his entire musical career; his recorded output consists of everything from field recordings of his travels to avant compositions, to jazz to funk. These recordings were up to this point unknown to the public. His father had been a recording engineer for Motown bands and had taught him intricate recording techniques when he was just a young boy. This knowledge Clutchy used to his advantage during his travels, working in recording studios from Bombay to Cairo. The information we gathered of him was from a small biographical manuscript that was found with his recordings under the care of a Mohave shaman who was a descendant of the Cahuilla Indian tribe who Clutchy had studied under. In this autobiography we find the writings of a musical gypsy who traveled the world investigating consciousness and its relation to music.

When Clutchy was just 20 years old he traveled to the Far East and was under the tutelage of Rinzai Zen monks in Japan for many years investigating silence and the rhythms of silence in music. Later, he studied Raja Yoga in India to master and articulate the movements of the body and its relation to sound. In his autobiography Clutchy relates his fascination with drums and their effect on consciousness so he decided to travel to Lagos, Nigeria to study with a master percussionist by the name Oba-lu-Funke. During his stay there he became a political revolutionary and gun-runner, and staged rebel missions to fight the oppressive government and its policies of Apartheid. During his intensive studies and travels, Clutchy was constantly recording music.

When he returned to the US Clutchy used his recording techniques to produce his own music and create instruments of his own. He has played with many groups primarily in the jazz, funk, avant setting. During his recording with other musicians Clutchy refused to contribute his name to the recordings, preferring to use a pseudonym or no name at all. He was purportedly good friends with Moondog and did some recordings with him; these recordings are yet to be found. His recordings span from the early 70s to the late 90s covering a whole spectrum of musical styles. After these recordings came to the surface, we have tried to contact the original source where these recordings were found unfortunately that source has since died. It is said by locals who knew him that Clutchy Hopkins returned to the Mojave Desert to finish his life out living in an underground cave; no one has heard from him since. 

Y'a t'il ne serait-ce qu'une infime part de vérité dans tout ça? Nul ne le sait. Et eu importe au fond...

Le fait est qu'il accompagne mes journées en ce moment et que je suis complètement sous le charme de ses morceaux dont certains se révèlent complètement hypnotiques.

Exemple avec "3:02", pépite que je ne me lasse pas d'écouter. Sans cesse. Redoutant un peu l'écoeurement, qui ne vient pas. 

Alleluia.

Du coup je te recommande chaleureusement de l'écouter un peu, si tu as un moment. Attention, il faut savoir que c'est complètement addictif. 

Hop, en voici un peu plus, pour satisfaire ton appétit qui n'aura sans doute pas cessé de s'aiguiser à l'écoute de la première vidéo :

On baigne dans une sorte de mélange de jazz, de soul et de trip hop, mélange inspiré dont il m'est impossible de décrocher ces temps-ci. Toi aussi tu t'y mets?

(Je cherche une rehab' pour nous sauver, t'en fais pas, tu peux y aller, on réussira bien à décrocher)

(De rien)