RFI Musique: What triggered off this "soul conversation"?
Jean-Jacques Milteau: Well, I knew that I wanted the album to have a basic folk feel and at the same time sound a bit groovy. The most important thing was that Soul Conversation shouldn't be too over-orchestrated because I wanted the harmonica to have its proper place without me having to play it really loud. Stevie Wonder aside, the harmonica's not commonly used in soul music, it's more an instrument associated with blues. So, basically, I had to organise the music around my fundamental concept of what the harmonica is. I see the instrument as engaging in a direct dialogue with the singer, but you have to dose it the way you do pepper in a sauce. It's good when there's a bit of pepper, but you mustn't add too much, just enough to bring out the flavour!

Music produced back in the "golden age of soul" had a very specific feel, a very specific production sound. Is that something you had in mind when working on your own album?
I think there was a certain freshness and spontaneity back in the sixties because musicians basically got on with things without asking too many questions. It's not like today where people are tempted to explore the endless possibilities digital technology has to offer. These days, it's inevitable that things are more calculated, more tried and tested, and that obviously means that the overall sound is much less raw and direct. I haven't tried to reproduce that sixties feel exactly on my new album, because that would be a form of calculation in itself. But what I did try and do was open up a bit of space and let things float a bit, you know, put the emphasis on things happening in the moment and try and draw on that energy there. It was a question of hitting on the right feeling really, like when we did the cover of You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Interestingly enough, the original was improvised in a dressing room backstage.

Talking of covers, Soul Conversation seems to feature quite a few reworkings of soul classics…
They actually started out being songs that we covered live on stage, but I ended up keeping a number of them for the album, mixing them in with my own compositions. What happened was I found myself going back to listening to music I was into in my teens, stuff like the Stones, Dylan, blues folk and English revival sounds. Back in those days soul had actually come to replace the blues in the black community. And one of the reasons for that was that soul singers were coming out and making their political views clear. It was a question of being born into the right era really. The great blues innovators got their message across in indirect ways, they had to wear a mask really, whereas soul stars like James Brown and Curtis Mayfield were able to stand up and be proud of their Afro-American identity. Paradoxically, the blues went on to become the voice of young whites involved in the civil rights movement. We actually included a blues number from that era on the album, a song by J.B. Lenoir who was renowned for being a very political songwriter.

Does your "soul conversation" follow on in the '60s tradition and deal with political issues?
I'm not setting myself up as some sort of political platform and I'm definitely not a philosopher. I just hope that both through our live performances and our albums we raise a few questions. I'm aware that one album is not going to change the way society works - and nor will music as a whole - but I do know that when I was younger music opened up a window onto the world and helped me understand things. Back in those days singers definitely got ideas across through music. These days, maybe that message gets across in a different way, via the Internet or other systems kids are into. I think it's going to take some time before we really understand what happened between the post-war years and the dawn of the digital age. Music played a vital role throughout that entire period. There's no doubt about it, music was one of the most important media of the 20th century. But I think it will probably have far less of a social and cultural impact in the 21st.

So you don't believe music has the power to change the world now?
No, I don't. If music had the power to change the world, we would have stopped fighting and killing one another long ago. It's no good lying to ourselves on that score. But I do believe that music encourages a spirit of curiosity, that it opens us up to the world, to different cultures, to different people, to all that is "other"...

You've done a lot to nurture that spirit of curiosity, getting involved in a number of activities that go beyond your work as a musician...
I don't think I'm different from anyone else in that respect. I simply use the skills of my profession to go beyond my own domain. I host a regular blues programme on TSF. I really enjoy sharing my passion and knowledge of music. In fact, it's quite possible that I get more out of the exchange than I give. For several years now I've also maintained a close relationship with a class in primary school. I go in and talk to pupils about music, but we discuss a lot of other things, too. I tell them about recent trips I've been on and places I've visited. It's important for them to share someone else's vision of the world. I regularly go and play in hospitals, too. I'm actually the patron of this organisation called "Musique et Santé" (Music and Health) which gets musicians to go and visit sick children. It's a difficult situation but, believe me, I'm not the one who puts the most into the relationship. When I leave a sick children's ward I am most definitely a changed man!

You recently changed record labels. Why was that?
For a lot of different reasons. Firstly, there was a schedule issue because the people at Universal weren't planning on releasing my new album before 2009 - and I thought that was a bit late for a project that got off the ground in 2006! Then there was the situation over at Universal Jazz where Daniel Richard wasn't sure how long he was going to remain in charge of the jazz division. Basically, I didn't feel right about signing up for a new album without knowing whether I'd have someone like him who's always been such a great listener. That's why I decided to jump ship and join Philippe Langlois's label. Langlois is someone you can talk to in complete confidence. He may not be a committed optimist, but he's certainly positive and he's always ready to get down to work even when he knows things won't be easy. Whether you sign to any label, be it an independent or a major, I think it's primarily a question of how you get along on a personal level. I'm obviously aware that Dixiefrog doesn't operate on the same budget as Universal. But then it's not like I'm trying to sell albums on the same scale as Madonna! As long as I manage to make a living from my music and I can work with people I like I'll be happy.

As an administrator of the Adami*, how do you see the record industry evolving in the future?
I think albums are basically like calling cards. From now on, bands can expect to sell them after a concert not before. I think nowadays audiences need to feel they've really entered into an artist's universe and got to know them before they want to buy an album. Let's face it, we lived with 78rpms for thirty years, then 33rpms came along and lasted for the next thirty and now the CD has gone on for twenty-five years… We're coming to the end of a system built on CDs, with all the perversions that entails. From now on, music is all about flux. It's a new way of circulating music but one which will pose serious problems until we resolve the question of how we can remunerate artists fairly for their work. I'm in favour of reserving a percentage of revenues to put into a common fund used to reward the act of creating a work.

* a collecting society for recording artists in France