GENTLE RAIDERS
NEW ALBUM SEPTEMBER 2026
Photos © Sylvain Gripoix
FEDERICO CASAGRANDE - guitars
ETIENNE RENARD - bass
STEPHANE ADSUAR - drums
guest VINCENT PEIRANI - accordina
For his new album, jazz guitarist Federico Casagrande explores unexpected sonic territory: the world of country and western. But far from the genre’s clichés, he focuses above all on its poetic essence—the vast landscapes, the solitude of the open road, the intimate connection with nature, and the sense of an inner journey.
Recorded in the classic guitar-bass-drums trio format, the album brings together two of Casagrande’s longtime collaborators: Étienne Renard on double bass and Stéphane Adsuar on drums. Their subtle and organic interplay provides the perfect foundation for music that is at once open, narrative, and deeply sensitive. On one track, the trio is joined by Vincent Peirani on the accordina, whose presence lends a unique and luminous quality to the ensemble.
While the world of the Western runs through the album like a common thread, Casagrande offers a personal and contemporary interpretation. Where the collective imagination often associates the cowboy with a virile and invulnerable figure, the guitarist chooses to reveal another facet: that of a man capable of emotion, fragility, and delicacy.
Through evocative compositions and open spaces for improvisation, the music evokes vast horizons as well as inner landscapes. The trio develops a nuanced musical language in which silence, textures, and collective breathing play an essential role.