The French formation Lazuli is in many ways unique in the progressive rock scene. This is due to their unique musical approach between prog, folk, chanson and world music. It's because of her outfit, her special live presence and her close relationship to her fans. Our guest author Marcus Cordier went on a house visit to Deaux in the south of France. Claude and Dominique Leonetti willingly gave information about their home base, the current album "Dénudé" and the change at the six strings from Gédéric Byar to Arnaud Beyney
The country road D 981 winds its way out of the picturesque town of Uzès and continues in the beautiful southern French Département Gard on the once important trade route of the Romans to the Occitan Alès. Shortly before you reach Alès, turn left and after a few minutes you will come to the tranquil village of Deaux. With just under 700 inhabitants, it has been the home base of the prog-folk rockers Lazuli since the 90s: they bought a former silk spinner building complex in need of renovation for little money and brought the old walls up to a habitable standard bit by bit. The new domicile has since offered the two Leonetti brothers and their families space to live and work - almost true to the motto of St. Benedict: "Ora et labora" (pray and work), whereby "pray" is replaced here by "live"
On the current CD, "Dénudé," family members are also integrated: Dominique's son Elliot, who is regularly encountered at the merchandise stand on tour, plays didgeridoo on one song, and his mother Aline as well as Claude's wife Christine and Marie, the wife of the new guitarist, participate on backing vocals. When the band meets for rehearsals and recordings in Deaux, usually for a whole week, they all live and work together on the spacious estate, of course. Dominique goes into raptures: "The centrepiece is the former wine cellar, today's studio L'Abeille rôde, where we have been producing our albums since the late 90s. The name translates exactly as 'The Wandering Bee', but it's a play on words, as the common Frenchman pronounces 'Abbey Road' the same way ..." Thought as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Fab Four and their famous studio.
