L’ANTIDOTE - L’ANTIDOTE - PONDEROSA

Available from Friday, September 19th, the debut, self-titled album L’Antidote (via Ponderosa Music Records), the first chapter of a journey with a Middle Eastern flavor, born from the meeting of a unique trio with Redi Hasa on cello, Bijan Chemirani on percussion, and Rami Khalifé on piano.

The album’s release was preceded by the debut single Pomegranate (February 28), which carries a message of harmony and unity, a recurring theme throughout the album. Followed by The Orchard (March 21), whose sounds paint a musical landscape that unfolds like a vast horizon, where sounds chase and intertwine in an obsessive dance, and Rosée (March 21), which contains an atmosphere that drags the imagination toward the most distant and mysterious corners of the East.

A meeting of sounds, worlds, and geographically distant cultures translates into a musically unprecedented synergy. A sensory journey that tastes the rugged charm of remote cities and landscapes, offering images, flavors, and colors that differ in the listener’s imagination. Nine tracks connected by an emotional red thread that culminates in a meditative analysis reflecting the soul of each musician. A conglomerate of refined sounds, at times ecstatic, in some ways hypnotic and slightly dark, are skillfully explored through the trio’s instruments.

Can beauty save the world? A challenging question, worked on by three virtuosos of international music, who came together to try to craft an antidote. The answer is contained in an instrumental repertoire of rare refinement, able to oppose the healing power of music to the poisons of our time.

Master of the Iranian zarb and Persian percussion, Bijan Chemirani blends an unprecedented science of rhythm, influenced by jazz metrics and Mediterranean sounds, with that of Albanian cellist Redi Hasa—known for his work revitalizing traditional music from Southern Italy, and for collaborations with Maria Mazzotta, Ludovico Einaudi, and Robert Plant—and Lebanese Rami Khalifé, who masterfully blurs the lines between classical and electronic on his piano keys. The paths of these musicians had crossed before, but only shortly before the pandemic outbreak, when time seemed to stand still, in a studio in Puglia near Lecce, did their visions find a meeting point. Immersed in this magnificent light-filled place, the three musicians reunited in the fall of 2024 to record their debut project L'Antidote.

"Music is an antidote to reality, which is sometimes marked by disappointments and broken dreams," explains Rami Khalifé. "It has a therapeutic effect on the mind and body: it calms us, gives us hope, heals us, and helps us see things in a new light. Music transcends everything."

In their athanor, the three “alchemists” first poured out their exceptional gift of improvisation, a key element in the composition of this album, which forgoes schemes, formulas, and scores. Far from any form of egocentrism, Bijan, Redi, and Rami listen to each other, weaving poetic landscapes that include glimpses of a plural East, balanced between their native geographies.

“L'Antidote is an island where we were able to meet and play music that resembles us and unites us beyond our individualities,” says Bijan Chemirani, who handles zarb, daf, calabash, and saz lafta with the humility of a sage. Rami Khalifé gives voice to his art using a grand piano, while Redi Hasa makes his cello sing, sometimes minimalist, baroque, or tormented. Experimentation and tradition merge thanks to skillful use of electronics, distortion, and various effects applied to the acoustic instrument.

“For me, music is a breath, air, a meeting. Rami, Bijan, and I found each other, and through the language of music, we learned to know each other and tell our stories. Beautiful colors were born, rooted in the lands of Bijan, Rami, and mine, Albania,” states Redi Hasa.

Space, air, time, silence... Marked by the beauty of an environment favorable to dreaming and contemplation, the trio allows themselves to be penetrated by the essence of meditative music in chiaroscuro pieces with delicate Levantine melodies like The Orchard, Shadows of Flowers on My Wall, Rosée, or the poignant Pomegranate. If purity and contemplation are useful to find one’s inner peace, there is no better remedy than an ecstatic trance to free oneself from negative energies: to get rid of poison, you have to dance! Thus, the three musicians indulge in the joy of uptempo pieces like Na Na Na and Dates, Figs and Nuts, where the fever of electronic music flirts with Balkan jubilation. Dance, have fun, cry, laugh, heal... L’Antidote is traversed by a wide range of emotions and sensations, connecting people from seemingly distant cultures. With L’Antidote, the three musicians cultivate hope and beauty on a universal scale.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Percussionist of Iranian origin, Bijan Chemirani learned to play the zarb from his father Djamchid Chemirani and brother Keyvan. His career started very early, with concerts and several recordings alongside musicians such as Ross Daly, Dariush Talai, Ballaké Sissoko, Jean Guihen Queyras, Sylvain Luc, Sting, Socrates Sinopoulos, Serge Teyssot Gai, Renaud Garcia Fons, and many others. At twenty-two, he recorded his first album, Gulistan, jardin des roses, in Athens and Marseille with Ross Daly.

Lebanese by origin, Rami Khalifé was born amidst the turmoil of the civil war in Beirut. Although mainly known for his reinterpretation of classical music, he has been a soloist alongside some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Globalis Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Through music that is as eclectic as it is bold, Rami has established himself as one of the most influential young composers of the 21st century. His career also includes producing soundtracks for films and documentaries. The Daily Star described him as "a musician of extreme caliber and pure expression... a welcome experimental deviation from today’s norm and the relatively conformist world of classical composition."

Born into a family of artists, Albanian cellist and composer Redi Hasa began studying cello at age seven. His first solo album, The Stolen Cello, saw him engage face-to-face with the instrument, establishing a deep relationship that emerges in every track of the album. His second studio album, My Nirvana, is an exploration of discovery and analysis toward the “grunge heart” of his musical approach, paying homage to a band he holds dear. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with Kocani Orkestar, Boban Markovic, Bobby McFerrin, Paolo Fresu, and since 2012, has been a member of Ludovico Einaudi’s band.