10 years of career, 3 albums and a prize at the Cognac Blues Passions festival in 2024 allow Jessie Lee & The Alchemists to return to Charente to take to the big stage before Keziah Jones. The modern-blues-rock band co-led by singer-guitarist Jessie Lee and guitarist-composer Alexis "Mr Al" Didier benefits from a quality rhythm section (Laurent Cokelaere on bass / Stéphane Minana on drums) and an organist trained to the sound of the Beatles, Laurian Daire.
With rich and varied influences, Jessie Lee & The Alchemists have been able to attract positive critical attention since their first two albums and have opened for Jeff Beck. With "Legacy" released in July 2025, the group has transformed the attempt and Luxe Infinity was able to meet them after their performance at the Cognac Blues PassionsThe interview:
Diego : How do you feel about returning to Cognac Blues Passions a year after winning the festival award?
Jessie : It's cool. It's a rare opportunity to perform at the same festival two years in a row and to be able to play on the main stage. It's a source of pride that coincides with the release date of our third album, a way to thank the festival organizers with this deliberate nod.
Diego : And I have no doubt about a future performance in a few years to promote a new album! What feedback do you have on the album "Let It Shine" released in May 2021?
Jessie : The tour was long and we were still defending it at the end of 2024. It allowed us to play in Europe, notably in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Alexis : The musical culture of these countries is different and they have a real passion for the blues that you don't necessarily find in France.
Jessie : Many artists don't come to France to add dates in these more knowledgeable countries. We release a new album every 3/4 years and make sure there are no filler tracks. We release 11 tracks in "Legacy" and in our opinion, none is weaker than another. We don't write in a rush and like to test our new songs on stage before recording them.
Diego : So the public's feelings can influence a new title?
Laurian : On the new album, all the tracks were unanimously acclaimed!
Diego : Tell me about “Legacy”!
Laurian : The album was recorded in the suburbs of Paris, at the Midilive studio in Villetaneuse. These are the former Vogue studios.
Alexis : Like its predecessors, this album matured live and as a band. Less production-heavy but more open than "Let It Shine," "Legacy" allows us to revisit our beginnings with jam-based tracks.
Diego : By jam, do you mean they are played on repeat in the studio?
Alexis : No, the goal is to create pieces open to the possibilities offered by our instruments to add this or that passage.
Jessie : The "jam-band" side is the legacy of Southern rock, like the Allman Brothers. Obviously, there's a verse-chorus structure, but the instrumental opening is permanent, and we don't pay attention to the length of the songs. On stage, we communicate through signs, and the concerts are all different. This avoids boredom, and we chose this formula to please ourselves as much as the audience.
Alexis : The pieces are designed in their compositions to have a certain freedom and a perceptible freshness.
Jessie : On some beaches, we know we have carte blanche...
Alexis : Just like our musical references which are Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton and Edgar Winter to name just the main ones.
Diego : Wasn't there a passage from "Grease" in your last concert?
Laurent : It's more than a wink!
Jessie : Our album is called "Legacy" because we wanted to pay homage to our influences: blues, rock, soul, jazz, New Orleans, and Jessie Lee & The Alchemists, rocking eclecticism with original compositions. You won't find just one style in our music!
Alexis : The advantage of the Midilive studio is that we can all play together while watching each other. It's where we shot the video for "I'm Gonna Play The Blues" and the footage is taken from the recording of the album.
Diego : And this new tour, almost following on from the previous one, how is it going?
Jessie : Great, and we're in the middle of a festival tour. Playing outdoors is different, and our time in Germany was very convincing. The press and the public are unanimous.
Diego : Jessie, how did you get into music?
Jessie : I started learning guitar at the age of 6 and I sang almost at the same time. From the age of 6 to 15, I took guitar lessons before starting a music school and studying in depth. I didn't take singing lessons until I was 18. I grew up in a musical family, my father played bass and I went on stage at a young age. Even if the idea of making it a career wasn't always easy, today it seems I made the right choice!
Diego : On stage, I noticed that Alexis, you had a blatant expression with your mouth!
Alexis : I sing my notes! It's a way of inhabiting the music and of going beyond the problem of the instrument. I put the most of myself into it!
Jessie : And I hear him sing them when I approach him! “Ti-dam-de-ti-dam-de bé…”
Diego : We can tell he's living it up from cowboy boots to the tip of his tongue! Otherwise, is the group more Cognac, whisky, beer or other?
The group : Last year, we won a beautiful 3-liter bottle of Cognac in our name. We only started drinking it yesterday to celebrate the album release! In Jessie Lee & The Alchemists, there's one big Cognac fan and four water drinkers... (laughs)
Diego : Do you have a ritual before going on stage?
Jessie : “Hurry up! You’re late!!!” That’s our ritual! (laughs)
Alexis : Depending on the scene, it can happen but there is usually no ritual.
Diego : What are the 5 most important artistic minutes of the group since its creation?
Jessie : Laurian came to play on one of my albums when I was only 15 years old because he knew my father. We met again a few years later, the project was born around 2011-2012 when Alexis was a teacher where I was taking classes in Paris and Laurent was giving a masterclass. It was a "little" Laurent who brought us together and it became obvious to compose all five of us (with the former drummer).
Diego : So your 5 most important minutes are more like 5 years, from 2011 to 2015? (laughs)
Jessie : The trigger was 2012. We've known each other for a long time and we met again.
Alexis : We are all connected to learning, Jessie was taking her DEM at the Paris Conservatory where I still teach. The project began in clubs, we accompanied her for her diploma and one thing led to another, the desire for a first album was born.
Diego : Actually, you're a family band! You're not five musicians playing on their own, but a band playing together. Well done for that because you can hear it! Finally, what are the best concerts you've experienced as a spectator?
The group : Johnny Winter in Massy, The Who at the Fête de l'Huma, Jeff Beck in Paris, Magma, John Scofield who goes on and on, Mandrill at the New Morning in 2000, Paul McCartney...
Diego : Thank you!
The group : See you soon !
Photos : Denis Darotcheche
Thanks : Sophie Louvet & Bruno Labati / Aude du Cognac Blues Passions.
