Jean-Jacques Milteau and Hugh Coltman Let the Good Times Roll!

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Bon Temps Rouler, Jean-Jacques Milteau and Johan Dalgaard are extending their collaboration with a new recording project: a 5-track album available since October 31, 2025. Born from the continuity of their radio adventures, this record brings together Hugh Coltman, Raphaël Chassin, Laurent Vernerey, and Scott McKeon for a beautiful musical moment between studio, stage, and radio.

27 years after our first meeting (Read here), it was a pleasure to meet again with this major figure of the harmonica in Europe, accompanied by Hugh Coltman for an exceptional joint interview.

🎤 Jean-Jacques Milteau & Hugh Coltman in conversation

Hello Jean-Jacques, hello Hugh. Bon Temps Rouler has just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Few shows have managed to last so long without losing their freshness. How do you explain this longevity and this special bond with the audience?

JJM: I can’t explain it, but I’m delighted! It’s quite miraculous these days of algorithmic playlists. It means people still want to be guided, advised, and introduced to a particular kind of listening by a human being, even in a genre as well-documented as the blues.

This year marks a new chapter with a new format between live and broadcast. How does this change things for you?

JJM: It means we have to find artists who are in Paris at the right time and willing to record. It requires more flexibility. So, the show has become monthly but remains very open in form.

You’re releasing Bon Temps Rouler Sessions, an EP with Hugh Coltman and Johan Dalgaard. Is it a way to extend the show? The first of a series perhaps?

JJM: Johan is an outstanding musician who works a lot. I’ve been playing myself since I was 15. It’s only natural that programming the music we love would make us want to play it, live or in the studio. It’s another way of sharing. As for what’s next, the future is always the hardest thing to predict!

Jean-Jacques Miteau and his musicians at TSF Jazz studios — Jean-Jacques Milteau, Hugh Coltman and the musicians

Hugh, how did you get involved in this project?

HC: I know Johan well from his work with Aske Jakoby, among others. He also plays with drummer Raphaël Chassin, who I also play with. I’d already been lucky enough to be invited on Bon Temps Rouler once or twice before.

“I’d be hard-pressed to define what a bluesman is in 2025”

Let’s take a closer look at this EP… You start with a Blind Willie Johnson blues. The blues, always and forever — yet you’ve never wanted to define yourself as a bluesman?

JJM: It’s not the original version that inspired us, but rather Paul Butterfield’s with Amos Garrett. The show’s subject is the blues and its close relatives, but that doesn’t give us any special status other than fans. Just because an actor tells a story in the first person doesn’t mean it’s his own. Besides, I’d be hard-pressed to define what a bluesman is in 2025.

Then comes a piece from the British Blues Boom era with a song by Peter Green, Man of the World. Was the role of British blues decisive for the harmonica?

JJM: Not so much for the harmonica as for the guitar! Just look at Peter Green. But I admit that Brian Jones and Denny Laine were among my first influences.

Then Bob Dylan, whom you’ve often covered in the past. What does he represent for you?

JJM: Beyond his talent, which has been recognized up to the Nobel Prize, he managed to make us believe, at the time, that music could be played without artifice or glitter.

And finally, Van Morrison! You seem deeply attached to great songwriters, right?

JJM: Absolutely! But even more to performers, who are the skin of creation — that’s where the friction happens…

There’s also this new track — a bright, upbeat, bluesy tune. How did the three-way writing for this original song come about?

JJM: I realized that Hugh played the harmonica really well. I suggested we make an instrumental together. He added lyrics, and there you go.

Hugh, is it true that the composition of Round & Round We Go was almost a happy accident?

HC: I had a harmonica riff I really liked, somewhere between the Fabulous Thunderbirds and an Irish drinking song. Jean-Jacques and Johan liked it too, and it happened that I had a first draft of lyrics in my phone notes that fit quite well. I was thrilled to hear what Johan and the other musicians made of it.

Hugh Coltman is a singer with a distinctive tone, blending jazz and folk. You’re known for favoring soulful voices on your previous records. The chemistry between you two seems perfect. What connects you musically and personally?

JJM: I have great respect for his talent as a songwriter and for his musical culture, and I simply love his voice.

And you, Hugh — what does Jean-Jacques Milteau represent to you?

HC: I must admit I didn’t know much about his work before moving to France. A friend introduced me to Blues Alive from 1998, which I really enjoyed. Today, I’m happy to know JJ. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, it’s always spot-on. That’s a rare quality these days.

This EP brings together an outstanding team: Raphaël Chassin, Laurent Vernerey, Scott McKeon… Was it important for you to bring back that live, band-like energy?

JJM: Actually, Johan and I dove into this adventure without any set plan, other than sharing time and music with musicians we appreciate. The charm of this project lies in its spontaneity, just like the show, and has no other ambition than to let the Bon Temps Rouler!

“My whole life was changed by buying a harmonica”

Jean-Jacques, when we first met in Avignon in 1998, you told me: “The harmonica is a tiny, insignificant thing, but it can trigger huge emotions.” Over twenty-five years later, does this humble instrument still bring you the same sense of wonder?

JJM: The instrument itself, not so much — but its consequences, yes. My whole life, both professional and personal, was changed by buying a harmonica when I was 15, after listening to Bob Dylan. The butterfly effect…

Hugh, what’s your relationship with the blues today?

HC: It feels like home. I can listen to and play many other kinds of music, and I love doing so — but when I play blues, it’s like walking through the streets of my childhood. Even though I’m definitely not a child of the Mississippi!

Jean-Jacques, in blues, people often talk about “soul” rather than “technique.” Do you agree?

JJM: Yes, there are special moments when the music seems to flow from your instrument without passing through your conscious mind — moments when the musicians’ intentions and the audience’s expectations merge. That’s probably what we all try to reproduce and keep alive.

Jean-Jacques Milteau and his musicians in studio — In the studio

There’s now a new generation of musicians and harmonica players. How do you see this new wave?

JJM: Through Soul Bag, I recently discovered Nic Clark, but especially Jeremy Albino, produced by Dan Auerbach. As for the French scene, Greg Zlap continues to build a strong career, and Charles Pasi offers a very original take on the instrument. Not to mention the many young players who perform brilliantly all over the internet.

What place does the harmonica still have in music today?

JJM: An increasingly discreet one. Its original charm — “music in your pocket” — has been largely overshadowed by the smartphone! And for the price of a Marine Band, you can get an app that replaces an entire band, arranger included…

Finally, looking back: from your first breaths on the harmonica to these new sessions, what connects all these moments?

JJM: Encounters. Lots of them. A lifetime. I truly believe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We only exist through interaction.

After this EP, are you working on other projects?

JJM: I’ll be at Café de la Danse on February 3 with a new concept I’m currently developing.