Twenty years after the release of Ameskeri, their first multi–award winning duet album, trumpet player Stéphane Belmondo and guitarist Sylvain Luc have done it again, beautifully. The two freedom-loving buccaneers reveal, with the intimate 2.0, the maturity acquired from their rich experiences, but also a preserved youth. From the very first listen, the music stimulates both the brain and the heart. Apart from the album’s two covers (a piece by Philippe Sarde and another by Stevie Wonder), the original compositions are profoundly refined, whether signed by Luc or Belmondo. From the opus flows, as if from an underground spring, the improvisation, fresh and nurtured by time, of experience. The title 2.0 refers to both the 20 years since Ameskeri came out and the leap that has projected us into a society that is changing in the face of digital technology. “Our duo dates back to the late 90s,” says Belmondo. “It was born in a Parisian club—Le Baiser Salé—where we met at 2 a.m. and, just for fun, played until dawn.” The release of Ameskeri (1999) led to many concerts all over the world. “In 2017, I founded a quintet with Stéphane, the Chemirani brothers, and Lionel Suarez,” adds Luc. “After the band's first practice, Stéphane said, ‘What a thrill it is to play together again, it makes me want to relaunch the duo!’ to which I responded, without hesitation, ‘You know my answer!’ Soon after, we started the adventure again as a duo.” The reunion took place as if the two friends had never been apart. In June 2019, after their first show together (in Austria), a journalist said, "It felt like there was only one instrument, not two!” When listening closely to 2.0, one is struck by the telepathy that connects Luc and Belmondo, like an invisible thread. Ameskeri was completely improvised. The album 2.0 includes six compositions by the guitarist, three by the trumpet and bugle player, two covers (plus a digital bonus track), and three tracks—notably the title track, “2.0”—based on improvisation, the cornucopia from which Luc and Belmondo like to draw. Belmondo's blues track, “On The Same Road,” gives a friendly nod to the monumental Monk. A lot of space is given to ballads, such as Luc’s “Evanescence” and “Tard le soir,” and Belmondo’s “Joey's Smile” and “The Melancholy of Rita,” which unfold between joy and melancholy. Luc dedicated the swing feel of “African Waltz” to his musical twin, while the waltz he crafted for “Petite fourmi” highlights the importance of the inner song for the two partners. Both have come a long way. Their shared compass: an open-mindedness that readily guides them towards the unknown, towards the challenge that encourages them to outdo themselves. Winner of the 2010 Django Reinhardt Prize, awarded by the Académie du Jazz, Luc has collaborated with such diverse artistic personalities as Michel Legrand, Michel Jonasz, Didier Lockwood, Billy Cobham, Al Jarreau, Richard Galliano, Michel Portal, Bernard Lubat, Richard Bona, the classical...