Ceux qui ont découvert le guitariste Antoine Berthiaume par ses deux premiers disques seront surpris: pas de triturations des textures ou d’improvisations totalement abstraites ici, mais plutôt un retour aux racines du jazz. Berthiaume, qui a fait ses premières armes dans le genre avec le prof Ben Charest au Cégep de Saint-Laurent avant d’aller s’éclater à Londres avec Derek Bailey, s’entoure ici de deux solides acolytes: Michel Donato à la contrebasse, et Pierre Tanguay sans autre instrument qu’une batterie bien standard. Le trio de base. Le guitariste signe 9 des 11 titres en se souvenant de ses gigs à l’air du temps. C’est bluesy par moments, enfumé malgré les règlements, et ça s’écoute le soir venu. (4/5)

Concentrés et amalgames is this duo’s second album for Ambiances Magnétiques (six years after Dérapages à cordes) and their third overall (Deuxième Acte came out in 2002 on Daniel Heïkalo’s own cottage label). This is hands down their best effort to date. Clearly, Arthur Bull and Daniel Heïkalo have kept on refining their musical relationship. The level of integration between Bull’s fragmented “serious” playing and Heïkalo’s much wilder side is higher than ever. The latter once again shifts between acoustic guitar and junkyard drums, with the percussives being heard on more tracks than on previous albums. On the guitar duet front, two pieces stand out: La solution de l’énigme and Tassez-vous donc. The first one may be the duo’s best piece released to date, with its tightly woven interplay, acute listening, subdued melodicism and relentless supply of ideas. The second one features Bull playing deconstructed blues licks on electric guitar while Heïkalo pulls all the stops on acoustic guitar, indulging in a rare and oh so effective display of virtuosity. The guitar/percussion pieces are generally a lot of fun, with Heïkalo hitting and clashing all around while Bull weaves oddly distant narratives. In that particular setting, the two men seem to willingly ignore one another, letting serendipity work things out by itself — and it works. Concentrés et amalgames is indeed a concentrate of what Bull and Heïkalo have been doing for years now, and the 11 short pieces included here have been carefully selected to showcase the duo at its most focused. A must-have for fans of Derek Bailey, Fred Frith or René Lussier.

So today I dug deep into my library to see if I could remind you of anybody, and so I stumbled onto Brooklyn duo The Eastern Stars. Thanks to their ever knowledgable site: “The Eastern Stars took their name from Masonic roots. The Order of the Eastern Star is the largest fraternal organization in the world in which both men and women may belong.” So, The Eastern Stars are, clearly, about male/female unity, and unity indeed — this duo take their charm from the use of contrasting male/female vocals. The soft, deep whispers of Rob Corradetti blend smoothly with Kaia Wong’s hushed, airy voice, and it was this attribute that qualified them a while back for my Some Are Lovers, Some Are Friends mix. The Eastern Stars’ sound definitely carries an air of folk, and their debut LP, July 5th, 1961, progresses from straight-out folk to a more experimental hand in that genre. Overall, they carry a very simplified sound that seems very stripped and bare, but it definitely works. The duo hopes to tour early next year, and is already in plans to open for Of Montréal in early March. Oh, and as for July 5th, 1961 — nothing seems to have happened that day, in case you were curious.

À son meilleur, le trio piano-contrebasse-batterie représente la quintessence de l’art du jazz, cet alliage d’intimité et d’interaction qui séduit d’entrée de jeu et nous ravit au gré d’écoutes plus attentives. À cet égard, le Trio Jean Félix Mailloux, composé du pianiste Arden Arapyan, du batteur Jonathan Racine-Ménard et de Mailloux à la contrebasse, s’inscrit dans la lignée des célèbres formations de Bill Evans, de Paul Bley et d’Oscar Peterson, et pourrait servir d’entrée en matière à quiconque cherche à saisir cette ineffable alchimie qui se distille à trois.

Pétries d’influences diverses – du tango à la musique arabe en passant par l’impressionnisme à la Bill Evans et l’angularité d’un Thelonious Monk – Aurores boréales est un petit miracle d’équilibre, empreint d’un onirisme qui n’est jamais flasque, d’une sensualité qui n’est jamais télégraphiée. Bref, on tient là une entrée en matière des plus prometteuses pour la nouvelle étiquette montréalaise Malasartes Musique.

Produzione canadese con catalogo avanguardista (da Derek Bailey ad André Duchesne) per il pianista, tastierista e compositore pugliese. Lenoci, del resto, vi aveva già inciso in duo con Joëlle Léandre (Sur une balançoire). Qui il gruppo è sotto il suo maieutico controllo e schiera Fabrizio Scarafile (sax soprano), Francesco Massaro (alto e baritono), Adolfo La Volpe (chitarra elettrica), Francesco Angioli (contrabbasso) e il veterano Marcello Magliocchi (batteria). Sette composizioni sono del leader e ben ne tratteggiano la poetica, felicemente e problematicamente sospesa tra jazz nelle sue forme più avanzate e musica contemporanea, tra suoni materici (Realtà) ed alea (Notturno frattale), con un rilevante spazio per la creazione estemporanea e l’improvvisazione collettiva. I brani non originali suggellano quest’atmosfera: il rarefatto Intermission VI di Morton Feldman e lo spigoloso Miss Ann di Eric Dolphy.

Damián Nisenson (saxophone) will give a concert on October 19, 2006 at the Maison de la culture Ahuntsic. {nbio:nisenson_da} will be joined by Jean Félix Mailloux (double bass), Pierre Tanguay (drums), and two special guests, Denis Plante (bandoneon) and Ziya Tabassian (percussions).