Scherzoo: The musicians come and go but Thollot is faithful …..

Scherzoo is an Avant-Prog / Zeuhl / RIO /Canterbury band founded by the composer / multi-instrumentalist François Thollot around 2005 in Lyon. In addition to having an appetite for intricate music, Scherzoo also likes the opposite as the albums are called 01.02.03.04 and in 27 days the album 05 will be released. Listen at Bandcamp.

After the early years marked by a high instability, the line-up of the band is fixed in 2011 with the arrival of NI’s François Mignot (guitar) and Anthony Beart (bass), Jeremy Van Quackbeke (piano), Guillaume Lagache (saxophone), and with F.Thollot taking the drum seat. This line-up has recorded the two first albums of Scherzoo, entitled 01 (2011) and 02 (2012).

In 2013, F.Thollot is the new bassist, and hires Clement Curaudeau (drums, from Sulphat’Ketamine), Maxime Mantovani (guitar) and Renaud Vernet (sax). This new formula of the band then records the 03 album in 2014 and performs in a few festivals, including Freakshow (Wurzburg-Ger) and Soleil Zeuhl (Paris – Fra), sharing the bill with Guillaume Perret, Jean Louis or Wobbler.

A new instrumentation is then adopted, without guitar and sax but with a dual-keyboards formula and a whole new repertoire, which was recorded for the 04 album, released in September 2018. As of 2018 the line-up of the band is: François Thollot (Bass), Gregoire Plancher (Electric Piano, Mellotron), Anthony Pontet (Electric Piano, Organ) and Clément Curaudeau (Drums).

Scherzoo’s music is entirely instrumental and combines many influences from the various styles of progressive rock (Canterbury, Zeuhl, RIO, Jazz Fusion, Symphonic), but also in jazz and classical/contemporary music. All the band records have been released via Soleil Zeuhl label, and the first three albums have been mastered by Udi Koomran.

All compositions on 05 is by François Thollot exept XZ/02 and Baron Perché by Grégoire Planchet. 05 is recorded and Mixed by Yann Van Eijk and mastered by Raphaël Léger and Blériotte created the artwork.

Scherzoo thanks «Loris Furlan, Boris Cassone, Le Bar des Capucins, and all our friends who made this possible».

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