JEFF MILLS Blue Potential CD & DVD

Chicago : Apr 28th (TBC) The music of Jeff Mills, one of the best known musicians and DJs within the Techno EDM genre was adapted to the stage and played by the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra and the man himself - the brilliant challenge accomplished by this album and DVD is entitled "Blue Potential". The energetic and dancefloor tracks composed by this critically acclaimed techno artist, along with his
more atmospheric anthems, and his synthesized ballads and dream-like pieces, were arranged by the young composer Thomas Roussel.

The performance itself took place beneath the grandeur of the Pont Du Gard bridge in France on July 2nd, 2005, in
celebration of the 20th anniversary of it's placement on the world heritage list by UNESCO.

The adventure started in 2000 when, after scouring the world's rave parties with his notorious techno sound, Jeff Mills embarked upon a new stage in his career. Fascinated by the world of science fiction, he put together a new electronic soundtrack for the Fritz Lang classic, "Metropolis". The different screenings of this film that was produced, proved
to the public as well as the critics, that Mills had a talent for music writing that went beyond
the techno scene.

The idea, according to Arnaud Frisch, co-founder of Uncivilized World, was to fulfill Jeff's vision, as he had imagined it to be one day. The albums recorded by this American DJ, are well known for their frenetic mixes, in fact they have an orchestral dimension that many electronic producers envy. However, transposing such music, composed as it is in the confined space of a home studio, demands technical skill and knowledge. This is
where the young composer and arranger, Thomas Roussel came in. Despite their widely differing backgrounds, Roussel and Mills both share common influences. Roussel had always been impressed by film soundtracks especially the work of John Williams ("Stars Wars") and Mills has always been fascinated by cinema and science fiction.

And it works - on stage as well as in recordings, firstly because according to Mills, "these two musical forms share common emotions and expressive elements"; their sense of atmosphere and immersion, power and energy, the characteristics that fire the imagination. Altinoglu, the orchestra conductor reminds us, "Jeff set himself the task of providing
the rhythmical electronic parts and some of the percussion, working a lot in free form, at times improvising, as we might imagine a jazz chorus would do". On top of this rhythmic baseline, explains Koering, there was added "all the harmonics and colors of the orchestra that no machine or technology is capable of reproducing". This is by no means a first "crossover" experience for these interpreters working under Koering. As Koering himself reminds us, "they were not at all opposed to this experience, whereas many others would
probably have gone on strike over a lot less. One of the main aims of our orchestra is to attract new audiences to classical music". It has been undeniably successful in this case, given audience numbers and the success of the first concert.

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