“I'm going to stop at the end of the year”, after the Goldman Heritage, Michael Jones will devote himself to a solo tour

Le guitariste Michael Jones, fidèle compagnon de Jean-Jacques Goldman. – Gerard PIWTORAK

Jean-Jacques Goldman's former guitarist will be leaving the “Goldman Legacy” project that he joined three years ago. Even though he still takes great pleasure in replaying the songs of the French people's favorite personality, considering himself too old now, the Welshman prefers to devote himself to a solo tour scheduled for 2025.

It's always a pleasure for you to be on stage and interpret the musical universe of J.J. Goldman ?

The answer is simple. If I didn't like it, I would stop. I always enjoy singing those songs. But since I want to keep enjoying it, I'm going to stop at the end of the year.

You've been in the project for three years?< /p>

Yes. It was Erick Benzi (Goldman's historic director and arranger, editor's note) who got me involved in this. As I'm 73, I want to do one last little tour, but alone. It will be called “I'll pass my turn”. The opportunity to celebrate my 60 years on stage. So there will be a “Heritage II” l& next year, but it will be without me.

J.-J. Goldman, it's more than a hundred songs. How do you sort them out??

We can't (laughs). That's why we end the show with a medley in which there are already a dozen songs. We also change the songs in the show to renew it. This is the fourth time we've toured France with this show, so we try to bring something new each time. “L'Héritage II” will therefore be completely different with new artists.

You are a solid companion of J.J. Goldman, whom you have known since the 1970s, but the performers are much younger. How were they chosen ?

They knew Jean-Jacques' songs through their parents. But they already have a well-rounded career. They have all done either The Voice or Eurovision. We wanted to keep their identity through Jean-Jacques' songs. We do the songs differently. Eric and I changed the arrangements with more or less Jean-Jacques' agreement since he listened to the first album.

It's not a dusting off, but a reinterpretation. That's the notion of heritage ?

We don't want to be a tribute at all. Tributes make the songs as they were originally recorded. We wanted to bring the songs to life differently.

You don't have the same feelings as on the tours you did with J.J. Goldman ?

I have great feelings. I even feel like I'm playing another song sometimes. That's the challenge. That's what's great.

There's your guitar of course, you play solo, but there's a great variety of instruments?

There are a lot of arrangements that are Celtic in style. We have the violinist. The singer who plays guitar, mandolin and bodhrán which is an Irish percussion instrument, and we have a “piper”, he's someone who plays bagpipes and flutes. He's Scottish and one of the best musicians in the world.

Why this Celtic atmosphere ?

We know that Jean-Jacques really likes Celtic music. And I'm Celtic. We found ourselves on that. We must not forget that Jean-Jacques wrote the soundtrack for Asterix.

What is the greatest artistic memory you have J.J. Goldman ?

Maybe the day we recorded in the studio with Ray Charles. We had written a song for him. He came with the song, but when he played it, it wasn't our song anymore. He made it his own. He did it the way he wanted to do it. It became a Ray Charles song.

When was that ?

A long time ago. It was for the movie Pacific Palisades (released in 1990, editor's note) with Sophie Marceau. Film, which didn't do that well but we had Ray Charles on a song.

J.-J. Goldman has long been inseparable from Les Enfoirés. For your part, you stopped in 2020. Why ?

It's always the same thing. I'm 73 years old and Les Enfoirés is extremely tiring. I think that physically, I couldn't do it anymore. It's 4 hours and 30 minutes of shows and on Sundays, there are two shows (laughs). I continue to work for Les Restos du Cœur but I'm no longer in Les Enfoirés. I now do mini-concerts for volunteers.

What is your relationship with Montpellier ?

I love this city. My daughter was a student in Montpellier. You can eat well, live well. It's a student city. I still preferred it before he blocked the Place de l'Oeuf.

You have habits when you come to see us?

There, we may not have time, but I go to Place Jean-Jaurès with all its bistros and there are musicians playing. It's very lively, it's nice.

The Goldman Legacy with Michael Jones. Tuesday, October 1 at 8 p.m. Zénith Sud, 2 733 avenue Albert Einstein, Montpellier. Price: from 49 to 69 euros;