Eclecticism could accurately describe the odyssey of Jean Plante, the european based musician. His interest in music was an awakening which led to studying the electric bass and performance at Berklee college of music in Boston US. This was adequate to convince him that this creative self-expression would become his life’s passion.
He started his career in France playing a wide variety of styles in a myriad of venues, building a reputation as a spirited, versatile and multitalented bassist.
This invaluable experience was the cornerstone of his musical ability and insight into artistry. Whilst the Berlin wall was falling, he came back to America participating to an Island records release produced by Billy Rush, the main protagonist behind Serge Gainsbourg’s legendary opus Love on the Beat, then briefly moved to Paris. Around this time, he found himself on double bass collaborating with senegalese kora player Doudou Cissoko, creating an acoustic link between Africa and Europe. They performed together many memorable concerts, including supporting Linton Kwesi Jonhston, the Skatalites, the Last Poets and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Eager to build on his existing experience he relocated in London UK where he met swedish singer songwriter Amanda Ericsson and initiated a superb trio with drummer Roger Biwandu. London opportunities started to present themselves, when, after an audition, he began playing with Pauline Taylor, wich resulted in a support slot for one of the UK’s biggest act dance, Faithless. He then get involved into the " solo flying mystery man " recording session, later included in the Faithless compilation Back to mine on Dmc
publishing before promoting her eponymous album released on Cheeky Records by touring Europe.
Around the same time, the buzz around his collaboration with Cissoko spawned the world scene of London. These sessions were the building blocks to the critically acclaimed Paris recording of Dimbaya, which he produced. The album was signed by Db records and picked up by Bmg. They performed and showcased their disc in London, appearing noticeably on Bbc live tv show Later with Jools Holland. Other highlights of this thriving period included working with Beth Hirsch – the female voice on the classy Moon Safari from the french band Air- to promote her intimate solo album Early days, released on K7 records, participating to Dave Randall’s remarkable Slovo project Nommo released by Ruff records, by playing doublebass on the track “Killing me†featuring the voice of Kirsty Hawkshaw. He also assisted in the singer Tom mc Rae on french versions of two songs, recorded with Phoebe Tolmer from Nouvelle Vague and performed with Pascal Danae while accumulating appearences on British television with a wide variety of prominent international artists, among them Anastacia, which led to a world promo tour taking in Europe, Asia, Australia and America.
His career so far has served as the perfect incubation period for many of his musical ideas, he is now working on a project wich will give you an insight into his musical soul and vision.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.†Carl Gustav Jung.
