Senni.com » Reggae

Potion Magique Quartet Version – Reggae-Jazz

Hervé Senni — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:13:01 +0000

This is the quartet version of my all time Hit; Potion Magique. I wrote that song in five minutes, singing the theme over two stupid bar chord B major and A major, talk about a progression…

The bridge took a little longer… less than ten minutes. Lol The arrangement was done the same way.

It sounds like a garbage song but actually all the songs I wrote really fast are the best of mine. It doesn’t mean that all the song I wrote fast is good, actually they aren’t.

However, when a song comes out fast it simply means inspiration, or divine guidance. Sadly, I do not have a lot of those. This thing happens more frequently when you are composing a lot without looking for a hit or thinking you’re a genius or that the song has to be complicated to be considered a heavy musician…

Lineup

Hervé Senni: guitar, solo
Pierre Bonin: Keyboards, solo
Alain Picotte: Bass
Mario Di Blasio: Drums

Download the song for free

Potion Magique (Magic Potion) – light Reggae Jazz

Hervé Senni — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:30:32 +0000

This is my hit. We performed it much time at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and it was an all time favorites. Radio Canada aired it many times for years.

I discovered it later when I received my royalty check. Potion Magique stands for Magic Potion, in honor of my hero Obelix and because the mix of reggae and jazz was a magic potion.

The song is pretty straight forward. It’s a basic AABA structure where the As are reggae and the B swing.

The chords are extremely simple. B Major and A Major in the A section and a cycle of dominant chords in fifth for the B section. A basic rhythm change bridge actually.

Jocelyn Menard is doing a nice and simple solo on the soprano sax.

We recorded many different versions of this song, in various setups. This is the number two cut. Enjoy

Line up:

Soprano Sax: Jocelyn Menard
Trumpet: Pierre Lafrenaye, solo
Guitar: Hervé Senni
Keyboard: Normand Devault
Percussion: Normand Bock
Bass: Alain Picotte
Drum: Gilbert Trahan

Moustache De Baleine – Post Nuclear Reggae – Zombie Groove

Hervé Senni — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:36:29 +0000

“Moustache de baleine” stands for “whale’s mustache”, another great philosophical title song of mine. I used to introduce that song as being composed by a rastaman after a nuclear war… Why “whale’s mustache”? I don’t know. If someone has the answer, please, do not hesitate to contact me.

The song is of course based on a weird structure and concept. It’s actually a 4 voice counter point based on augmented fours.

I love the whole tone scale. Like the diminish scale they have no real tonal sound. They can be many tonalities at the time (6 for the whole tone scale and 3 for the diminish) and none at the same time. Talk about unstable sound.

I really like the way horns player play with the theme. Pierre Lafrenaye (trp) and Normand Devault are going really far out in the solo bit. I love it!

Line up:

Soprano Sax: Jocelyn Menard
Trumpet: Pierre Lafrenaye, solo
Guitar: Hervé Senni
Keyboard: Normand Devault
Percussion: Normand Bock
Bass: Alain Picotte
Drum: Gilbert Trahan