Issue #4 - October 2023

Benoit's World News

Hello folks.

I only have a couple of hours left before I fly to Japan so I’ll try to keep it short, and hopefully free of typos and French humour.

I have not written anything since june, which is a big issue (pun omitted) and I am therefore riddled with guilt. But I had a some very good excuses: I have perform a lot, and in between gigs have finally excavated the corpses from my garden and dug out about 20 tons of clay, hardcore and rubble with a pick axe and a shovel. So I have lost weight, got myself a six pack and my tailored suits fit me once again! But I had to abandon my computer for a while. I hope you will excuse me.

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New album

That’s right, I have a new album! Please have a listen…

​https://benoitviellefon.bandcamp.com/album/paris-london​

If you have checked my music online or bought a CD, you may know the Hot Club album “Paris 19:36 – London20:16”. When I released it a few years ago, I made a CD with a selections of songs from the sessions I had recorded at the time with the Hot Club at the legendary Porcupine Studios. I am now releasing the entire music recorded during those sessions in a double album format. The tracks were remastered by Japanese producer Tadashi Matsuda. The first volume is called “paris London”, out now exclusively on Bandcamp, and the second called “London Paris” will be out on the 1st of November (now a pre-release on Bandcamp]. I hope you will enjoy these recordings, and even, why not, buy them? There will be no CD and no release on Streaming platforms.

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Bandcamp subscription

​Please subscribe to my music for £20 a year (or £1.66 a month) and get access to everything I have ever recorded and more (free tickets to selected concerts for example worth £20-£45). I have cut the price by half for you. By subscribing you will help me to raise funds to record and market my next studio album, the production of which had to be stopped due to spiralling costs.

My whole catalogue of 11 albums is available exclusively in Bandcamp at £8 each per download (£96 in total). But is you are scared of financial Armageddon and want to save yourself a fortune, you can subscribe for £20 a year instead. A bargain!

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New guitar, new beginnings

I went in June with Jarrod Elks guitarist to the Samois Django Reinhardt Festival 2023, played with so many European, Russian and American musicians day and night for a week. Unavoidably I came back with a new guitar, just my dream guitar: a Selmer petite bouche copy with a hand made pick up.

It is the exact replica of Django Reinhardt’s instrument, with a very balanced tone, and a very playable neck made by luthier Yvan Jordan. It allows me to play all day without injuries, so I am very happy. I also ordered a hand made pick up from Yves Leguen, the engineer that developed the Stimer pick up in 1948 for Django Reinhardt. That set up solves so many of the amplification issues we have with those instruments. In fact the guitar/pick up set up it is so good, we bought one each as you can see in that little video filmed at the Brunswick theatre in Hove. I am very happy with my new instrument!

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Concerts

I don’t have a lot coming in the immediate future as I am going to Japan for the whole of October. But I have started a regular show at the Brunswick Theatre in Bighton/Hove, a brilliant venue, another one at the Crown House in Hastings/St leonards, and lined up the London residencies at Ronnie Scotts, Nightjar, Nightjar Carnaby, and Zedel for 2024. I will publish the dates in due time, and add a few other shows and festivals in the country. I will spend most of the winter working on new music rather than performing often.

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From the Editor

That’s it folks, I kept it very concise as I wanted to publish something quickly before I fly to Tokyo and loose another month. I promise that in the next issue I’ll keep you informed about the weather and other trivial matters once again.

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A bientot. (French: meaning "See you soon")

Benoit Viellefon

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Benoit Viellefon - St Matthews Gardens, St Leonards-on-sea, East Sussex TN38 0TT
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