Olivier Rocque

It was a record on which Clarence Gatemouth Brown played. That set this elegant and resolute drummer on the path of the blues. He began his musical studies at the conservatoire in Epinay Sous Sénarty and continued them at the IMPF in Marseille. Living in Barcelona since 1997, he began his journey accompanying the greats of Catalan jazz, such as Lucky Guri, Josep Maria Farràs or Ignasi Terraza, but he has also become a familiar and well-loved figure on the blues circuit, where his professionalism has earned him the absolute respect of audiences and fellow professionals. Besides Gatemouth Brown, his holy trinity of musical references comprises the pianist Memphis Slim and Fred Below, whom he regards as “the blues drummer”. An artist of talent and with a great musical culture, in his own words he confesses himself seduced by African-American roots music, “because it is a musical genre full of feelings and emotions that the performer conveys to the audience instantly, and that makes the blues a style which, like jazz, is characterised by improvisation in performance. Indeed, every version of a blues song becomes a unique piece”.