Wax Tailor

Wax Tailor
Background information
Birth name	Jean-Christophe Le Saoût
Born	Vernon, Normandy, France
Genres	Trip hop, turntablism, hip hop, downtempo, electronica, electro swing
Occupation(s)	Record producer, composer, disc jockey, talent manager
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Lab'Oratoire
Website	waxtailor.com

Jean-Christophe Le Saoût^[1] (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ kʁistɔf lə su] ^ⓘ; born on 19 July 1975), better known by the stage name Wax Tailor, is a French record producer, DJ, and talent manager. He has released six studio albums collaborating with other artists.

Early career

After being a host on French radio in the Paris suburb of Mantes-La-Jolie, Le Saoût started the French rap group La Formule in the 1990s. He created his label Lab'Oratoire in 1998.^[2] He began working on the Wax Tailor project in 2001, first appearing on a remix of Looptroop and La Formule's "Deep Under Water".

Releases

In 2004, JC Le Saoût launched the Wax Tailor concept with an EP, "Lost the Way", that gained the attention of DJ's and music critics in his home country.

In 2005, Wax Tailor released his debut album, Tales of the Forgotten Melodies. In addition to sampling Nina Simone, Doris Day and Albert Hitchcock films, the album also featured collaborations with The Others and Charlotte Savary.^[3]

In 2007, Wax Tailor released his second album Hope & Sorrow and had his first crossover hit single with Positively Inclined.

In 2009, Wax Tailor released Say Yes, the first single on his new album In the Mood for Life, released on September 21, featuring Charlie Winston, Charlotte Savary, Sara Genn, Dionne Charles, A State of Mind, Mattic, Ali Harter, and Speech Defect.

In 2012, after three years of touring around the world, Wax Tailor released Dusty Rainbow from the Dark. The album was narrated by actor Don McCorkindale, whom Le Saoût selected after listening to nearly 300 voices.^[4]

In 2014, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his career, Wax Tailor launched the "Phonovisions Symphonic Orchestra." Alongside a 35-piece orchestra and a 17-person choir, Wax Tailor embarked on an ambitious re-orchestration of 27 highlights from his 4 albums, to present them in a completely different setting. After a sold-out European tour, the Phonovisions Symphonic Orchestra was chosen to play 3 shows for the re-opening of the prestigious Teatro Colon in Bogota, accompanied by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia.

In 2016, Wax Tailor released his fifth album By Any Beats Necessary. The title references the Malcolm X phrase "By Any Means Necessary", which was inspired by Sartre's play "Dirty Hands". The album features collaborations with Ghostface Killah from the Wu-Tang Clan, R.A. the Rugged Man, A-F-R-O, Token, Tricky, Lee Fields, Charlotte Savary, Sara Genn, Mattic and Raashan Ahmad and IDIL.

In 2017 Wax Tailor went on a long world tour during which he decided to completely remix the album. Established producers such as Ollie Teeba (The Herbaliser) and the US duo Du-Rites (J-Zone), as well as a cohort of rising artists such as ProleteR, Soul Square, The Geek x Vrv, Poldoore, Kognitif, Fatbabs, Madwreck, Benji Blow, Le Parasite, were selected by Wax Tailor to keep a general musical cohesiveness to the project and bring a new life to the original album.

In January 2021, Tailor released The Shadow of Their Suns, his sixth studio album, featuring guest artists Mark Lanegan, Del The Funky Homosapien (Gorillaz), D Smoke, Gil Scott Heron, Rosemary Standley (Moriarty), Mr Lif, Adeline, and Yugen Blakrok.

In January 2023, Le Saoût released Fishing For Accidents.^[5] The album featured appearances from Mick Jenkins, Mr. Lif, Kuf Knotz, Lojii, Napoleon Da Legend, Ill Conscious, Voice Monet, David Bars, Mattic, Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields) and Victoria Bigelow.

Awards

• Winner of 2013 Sacem Electronic Music Prize^{[citation needed]}
• Winner in 2008 of the 7th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop vote for best Dance/Electronica album Hope & Sorrow^{[citation needed]}
• Three of his albums, Hope & Sorrow,^[6] In The Mood for Life,^[7] and Dusty Rainbow From The Dark^[8] were nominated for Best Electronic Album at the Victoires de la Musique in France.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak positions	Certification
		FRA [9]
2005	Tales of the Forgotten Melodies	150
2007	Hope & Sorrow	31
2009	In the Mood for Life	9
2012	Dusty Rainbow from the Dark	8
2016	By Any Beats Necessary	12
2017	By Any Remixes Necessary
2021	The Shadow of Their Suns	14
2023	Fishing for Accidents	137 [10]

Live albums

Year	Album	Peak positions	Certification
		FRA [9]
2010	Live 2010 à l'Olympia	62
2014	Phonovisions Symphonic Orchestra

EPs and singles

Year	Title	Peak positions	Certification	Album
		FRA [9]
2004	Que Sera/Where My Heart's At
	Lost the Way
2006	Our Dance/Walk the Line			Tales of the Forgotten Melodies
2007	To Dry Up/The Games You Play	78		Hope and Sorrow
	Positively Inclined / The Way We Lived	78
2008	We Be / There Is Danger	78
2009	"Say Yes" (feat. ASM)	30		In the Mood for Life
	This Train" / "Leave It	25
2010	I Own You
2012	Heart Stop	81		Dusty Rainbow from the Dark
2016	I Had a Woman	194[11]
2017	The Chase Remixes

Remixes

• Looptroop & La Formule - Deep Under Water (Wax Tailor remix) 2001
• Clover - Death of the Lonely Superhero (Wax Tailor remix) 2005
• Wax Tailor - Our Dance (Wax Tailor Remix) 2006
• Nina Simone - I Am Blessed 2008

Covers, references, and sampling

• His track Seize The Day recorded with Charlotte Savary appears in the soundtrack of the 2008 film Paris by Cédric Klapisch.^[promotion?]

References

1. True, Chris. "Biography: Wax Tailor". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
2. Dambre, Nicolas (3 November 2016). "Wax Tailor, l'artisan des platines". RFI Musique (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2024. J'ai monté mon label, Lab'Oratoire, en 1998, un peu par accident, parce que j'ai un peu laissé traîner des discussions avec de grosses maisons de disques.
3. Cole, Kevin (6 December 2006). "KEXP's 10 (Well, 11) Best Debut CDs of 2006". NPR. Retrieved 31 July 2024. Both his use of samples (Nina Simone, Hitchcock, Doris Day) and new material from friends The Others and Charlotte Savary are expertly balanced throughout the record, making for an addictive and blunted journey.
4. Lepron, Louis (15 September 2012). "Les secrets de fabrication du hip-hop rétro de Wax Tailor". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). Retrieved 15 November 2024. Histoire oblige, Wax Tailor doit trouver la perle rare pour compléter la deuxième étape : le narrateur. Il en écoute près de 300 avant de tomber sur le bon, Don McCorkindale, une voix légendaire qui officiait à la BBC :
5. "Wax Tailor, heureux accidents". RFI Musique (in French). 3 March 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
6. fr:Victoires de la musique 2008#Artiste de musiques .C3.A9lectroniques ou dance de l.27ann.C3.A9e
7. fr:Victoires de la musique 2010#L.E2.80.99enregistrement de musiques .C3.A9lectroniques ou dance de l.E2.80.99ann.C3.A9e
8. "France.tv - Replay TV et tous les sites des chaînes France Télévisions".
9. LesCharts.com: Wax Tailor discography
10. "Top Albums (Week 7, 2023)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
11. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP (Week 23, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 11 June 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Wax Tailor at Discogs
• Wax Tailor artist page at Le Plan
• Wax Tailor at MusicBrainz