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A Sum of Unusual Parts: Julien Labro and Jason Vieaux's "Infusions"

The title of Julien Labro and JasonVieaux's album Infusions evokes images of cross-cultural osmosis, the blurring of the lines between the colloquial and the quintessentially modern, and the day-glo rhythms of jazz fusion's '70s heyday. The story of its inception is no different. The musical partnership came together naturally, as Labro describes how "easy it was to put things together," while discussing the project with Vieaux and Of Note's Katy Henriksen.

Labro is a talented player of the accordion and the bandoneon​- a concertina most often heard in Argentina. Vieaux is a classical guitarist whose 2015 album Play won a Grammy. They may not be the first musical partnership you'd expect to cover Tears for Fears' classic "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," but no one expected Miles Davis' You're Under Arrest, either.  

Infusions is a love letter to Labro and Vieaux's diverse range of musical interests, an album that spans the work of Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, virtuoso American guitarist Pat Metheny, and the aforementioned staple of '80s pop, which Vieaux was inspired to tackle after watching the presidential debates of 2012. "I woke up and I thought, 'everybody wants to rule the world,' " says Vieaux. 

"What's fun is, it's also taking- while it's a pop tune, harmonically, there's also a lot going on that goes outside of pop music," adds Labro, and it seems a fitting remark on their album as a whole.

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