My buddy and I were in the studio . My friend says , " It ' s a certain Pierre Gabriel . I say no ; he ' s just another asshole trying to pull a prank on us . My buddy says , Listen , Mr . Pierre . I called him back and said , Okay , fine . We continued working , and he called back an hour later , by which time I ' d already left for home . I ' d left the studio ; my friend , who was called Pablo at the time , said to him , " Listen , Pierre , call him back at home ." Here ' s the number . So , I arrive home . I ' m taking a shower and everything . The phone rings : Hello , there ' s someone calling you from there , called Pierre Gabriel . Apparently , he doesn ' t speak French very well . So , I pick up the phone . Allô , Hello . This is Félix . I said yeah . Yeah , it ' s me . Ah , it was you who called the studio earlier ? All right , cut the crap . Now that I recognize you , you ' re the guy ... He says , No , no , it ' s Pierre Gabriel . Well , Peter ... And that ' s when I thought , this is serious . And then I told him in jest . I said , Listen , if it ' s you , try singing me such and such a song . He laughed at that . He started laughing because he saw that I didn ' t really believe it was him .
And what song did he sing ? He sang on Merci Street . And I remember that . I ' m telling you about it . I ' m moved because it ' s my favorite song of his . Merci Street , he started singing it , and then he didn ' t sing the whole thing , just little words like that , and I recognized his voice right away , and then I said , " But that ' s Peter Gabriel talking to me there , and I ' m doing the star of Bamako ." I don ' t know where from ... And he says to me , " I ' m calling you because I ' d like you to join the tour , and then I did a bit of starring too ." I said yes , wait , I ' ll see , I don ' t know , wait 5 minutes , and then I went dancing in the bathroom . I started bouncing around in there . I came back , and I said yes , hello , so finally , yes , OK , I ' m interested . I ' d never had that before , and I was happy . He said welcome to the team . Until then , I thought it was a joke . The next day , I got a book like that with the plane tickets , because before that , it wasn ' t on the internet ; it was the physical plane tickets that we got , and that ' s how I started the incredible Peter Gabriel tour .
36 Flashmag ! Issue 149 April 2024
Since the beginning of this show . We ' re talking about your participation in the works of your contemporaries . Why have you recorded so little under your own name ? Actually , I think I ' m a good accompanist . I ' m a good driver . I stay behind the wheel of the car , and then the stars or not-stars sit down , and I drive them . And now , I find I want to do that . I ' m a good companion . I like that , so with a little experience today , after a little time , I ' m starting to think about making an album under my own name . As you say , I compose a lot of music , but I don ' t make albums . As I said earlier , jokingly , it ' s true . For me , drums are a genre , and above all , a drummer who becomes a composer and makes music under his own name is undergoing a kind of psychoanalysis , and when he makes an album , his psychoanalysis is over . You don ' t become a drummer by chance . Me , I ' m hidden behind the cymbal drums and everything ... Now , I ' ve got fewer cymbals . I ' ve got fewer drums , so people see me a bit more , and then , little by little , I even sing at the front of the stage now . Yeah , I think I ' m less shy . West Montgomery made a name for himself at the age of 40 . Almost always , it ' s never too late . My life isn ' t a race against eugenics , but I think , yeah , I ' ve got something to say , even at 70 .
Felix Sabal-Lecco , in addition to accompanying the musicians on stage , one of the epic moments of which was his concert in the Kremlin in front of Vladimir Putin , has composed a great deal of music for films and documentaries , including some fifteen films directed by Luc Riolon . The drummer emeritus , who single-handedly , through his experience and background , tried through the digital application Lifistic that he promoted to give professional and aspiring musicians a better chance of finding outlets , Féfé represented a kind of allegory for the history of black and popular music on the world stage , as he was a privileged actor and witness for four decades . Felix Sabal-Lecco passed away on the night of March 3 – 4 , 2024 , in Paris , after su ering from cancer . Few knew he was su ering from the disease , as he always had this jovial attitude that made us believe that everything was always going well for him . The artist never died , and his works attest to his immortality .