"The Song of the Paulownia" at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2026
On April 11, 2019, I created the sound herbalism to share the therapeutic song of medicinal plants because my experience in Latin America with certain plants, such as the cacao tree, gave me the impetus to transmit these messages. I knew that these melodies needed to be heard by different audiences to give a voice to plants and trees.
A life mission that I honor every day.
Seven years later, after dozens of plant songs shared through this sound herbalism, as well as through conferences, workshops, festivals, and more, and several digital albums showcasing the artistic potential of the biodata we can record, I am delighted to release my first vinyl.
And not just any vinyl, nor in just any way.
"The Song of the Paulownia" is a co-creation spanning several years, and it required a particular alignment of the stars to be released this year.
Since 2022, I have been participating in primarily sound projects at Villa "Le Lac" Le Corbusier centered around the song of this emblematic tree in the garden of this incredible place.
I was able to make it sing for the first time during the Riviera Museum Night 2022, and more than 500 people came to discover this project blending science and art.
A tribute to the "Quatuor du Lac," as this house was the scene of rare and original sound experiments.
Here is the video summarizing this tribute to the "Quatuor du Lac" in 2022:
Even Swiss radio came to produce a "coté jardin" (garden side) program, where we broadcast the song of the Paulownia for the centennial of the venue in October 2023.
https://avecvous.rts.ch/evenements/emissions/cote-jardin-investit-la-maison-de-l-architecte
Extraordinary experiences in an unconventional setting—it took nothing less for us to develop a lasting relationship with Patrick Moser, the curator of Villa "Le Lac" Le Corbusier, to make the plants in the garden, which are year-round residents of the site, heard.
I was able to take an impression of all the plants during 2022/2023 to have a trace, a biochemical and sonic imprint of all the beings inhabiting this garden, which was precisely designed by Le Corbusier so that each month would feature different colors according to the blooms. He was aware of nature's cycles and meticulously chose each plant to embellish this place in a way that harmonized with the external setting offered by the Lake throughout the year.
In 2024, I was surprised by a call from Patrick explaining that the Paulownia was dying and needed to be replaced. The first one had been decapitated by an overzealous gardener who thought he was doing good... in 2014, they had to plant a new one and had concerns it wouldn't stay... 10 years later, these thoughts contributed to its demise, and Patrick had to find a way to replace it.
In a dramatic turn of events, Switzerland also mandated that same year that the Paulownia was an invasive species and would be prohibited from September 1st. Patrick, with a masterful hand, orchestrated its replacement at the very last minute on August 30th, with signatures from all parties requiring authorization. Mission accomplished to ensure this place remained as it was originally, with the essence of the spirit of this tree, which over time became the emblem of the garden.
I was therefore able to record the song of Paulownia 2.0 in 2022 following my visit to the Riviera Museum Night, and then in October 2024, I recorded the song of Paulownia 3.0 to have a recent archive of this newcomer for documentation and also for the tree's evolution in its new living environment.
Then came the idea of sharing this memory and these songs on a physical medium: vinyl.
We had to wait two more seasons for the idea to mature and to propose an original object, ripened by time.
And given that Villa "Le Lac" Le Corbusier is in contact with various other venues due to its international reach, among the collaborations already in place is one with this beautiful festival that has been held in Montreux for 60 years now: the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Marc Aymon was the first guest to undertake a residency in 2023, followed by the production of a 45-rpm record to perpetuate the sound initiatives that have punctuated the rhythm of the seasons at La Villa for over 50 years.
https://www.villalelac.ch/fr/event/marc-aymon
In the meantime, I was able to give another unique performance for the Riviera Museum Night 2026, once again letting the audience listen to the Paulownia, but with a nuance. I "imposed" on it the use of precise frequencies, those of the "color keyboard" that Le Corbusier developed in 1939 for the lighting needs of his architectural works. Thus, the Paulownia and the Villa became the stage for another rare sound experiment, and I was happy to find among the curious who came to see us that evening, my friend Bertrand Siffert, one of the legendary sound engineers of the Montreux Jazz Festival, but above all the sound engineer of "the best band in the world": "The Young Gods" (according to David Bowie in the 1990s and other musicians like Trent Reznor of NIN or Mike Patton who cite them as references. In my former life as an artisan photographer, I had also conversed with Serge Tayssot-Gay of Zone Libre - and former guitarist of Noir Désir - who also spoke of "the young gods" in the same terms of "best band in the world," a nod to my dear friend Franz Treichler, whom I introduced to playing music with plants a few years ago).
Bertrand loved playing with the keyboard I designed for the event and listening to the Paulownia using these specific frequencies that I calculated based on my work in molecular sound chemistry.
Joyfully timed, in early June, this new original creation of the "Song of the Paulownia" vinyl reached the ears of Stéphanie Aloysia-Moretti, Artistic Director at the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation, who invited Patrick Moser and me to present this unique concept and play both sides during the 60th edition of this legendary festival.
Thus, we found ourselves in the night of Saturday, July 4th, to Sunday, July 5th, in the Lake House, a symbolic third place of the festival, in its magnificent library, to share the adventure of "The Song of the Paulownia" in the good company of Fred Fatio, DJ and radio host aka Daddy Fred, who also allowed me to broadcast live the song of a basil plant that had been lent to me for the occasion by the neighboring restaurant, where I also happened to meet Sting, as he was playing at the festival that same evening and came to eat between noon and two. He is a regular at the festival, so he knows the good spots.
It's not every day you get to be in such a place, especially after an extraordinary listening session of an anthology album by Frank Zappa, explained by Mike Keneally.
“Keneally is the undisputed progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era.” – All Music Guide
Recognized as one of the most creative and intense guitarists and keyboardists in modern music, Mike Keneally possesses formidable talents as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, and arranger.
Since 1992, Keneally has released over 30 albums of original compositions and has built a remarkably inventive body of work. Combining absurd humor, skillfully applied virtuosity, and a constant quest for all that borders on transcendence, the incessant stylistic variety of his albums testifies to Keneally's love for all types of music, beyond genre distinctions.
Mike loved listening to the vinyl, and we were happy to offer him one of the 300 copies. Seeing someone so rigorous in modern music "dance" in his chair to the "Song of the Paulownia" was an immense pleasure, especially when you have a high-end Nagra turntable, costing over 200,000 Swiss francs, at your disposal.
At the same time, the Paulownia deserved at least that for its first public listening.
And so, here is the video presentation that I was able to capture with my phone to keep a record of this moment at this legendary festival. A copy remained in the library because Daddy Fred also loved the concept and the melodies that will now resonate in this place.
A seed that will germinate, and for sure, there will be more surprises in 2027 as we have been offered better exposure to present the melody of plants.
To be continued...
And for the curious, there are a few copies for sale via the Call Me Edouard website here:
https://www.call-me-edouard.com/fr/livres/le-chant-du-paulownia-33/