If you thought that avant-garde-post-jazz improvisation had vanished forever, think again. Practitioners of the art have always needed to have at their fingertips a combination of incredible virtuosity, an innate grasp of musical form and the ability to listen analytically, even when wailing away on an instrument. In the past, some players revealed their weaknesses in this kind of exercise. But if anyone possesses such magic these days, Wiens, Goldstein and Anandan have it, as evidenced on this new CD.

The metallic combinations of the solo violin linked with guitar at times remind one of King Crimson in their Lark’s Tongue in Aspic era, particularly in RaMa. However, this Montréal-based trio strives for more stratospheric heights than anything we heard in 1973. Of the most effective pieces, Fra Ma Ga Ra includes saxophonist Frank Lozano. Anandan’s gentle kalimba leads us into an oasis of peace on the last track, Lullaby.

Ambiances Magnétiques persist in publishing discs in cardboard tri-fold sleeves, for reasons unclear. They’re easily bent or mangled if you pop them in pocket or purse. Nonetheless, it gives the designer a big area to work in. But the photo has the musicians posing stiffly, bundled in winter overcoats with instrument cases slung about them. Surely it would have been more interesting to show us a glimpse of the session itself, with musicians in the white heat of improvisation. Nevertheless, this is a remarkable disc.

This is a confluence of artists from jazz, contemporary and Indian classical backgrounds. The liner notes describe the similarities between the disciplines: a devotion to rigorous practice, a mastery of all the tonal possibilities of an instrument and a willingness to experiment.Anandan, on various drums, and Wiens, on prepared guitar, play percussive roles while Goldstein will most likely establish the lead voice then quickly shred it while trying to find common ground with the other two. However, everyone gets in on the melodic and rhythmic content — there is no better example than the percolating Twenty Fingers, which starts the album, where no one is the clear leader and all sounds seem to be part of some grand rhythm and harmonic matrix. Wiens also complements bowed violin passages with his guitar preparations to make for smoother sounds to impart glossier textures.

Despite the title, this is not a song-by-song remake of the Talking Heads’ classic album of the same name, although I can only imagine what this trio’s takes on Burning Down The House or This Must Be The Place would sound like. Much like The Dirty Three, these musicians play percussion, violin, and guitar; unlike those Australians, these Canadians have little use for melody or song structure. The eight (mostly lengthy) compositions here blend Indian music-inspired open tunings with dissonant free jazz improvisations, but this sort of culture clash isn’t as outwardly engaging as you would hope. While the talent and skill that went into making the album is readily apparent, any pleasure derived from these difficult, subtle pieces requires a lot of close listening. It’s like staring at an impenetrably dense painting in a museum and admiring what you see but wondering, “What’s the point?” The trio come closest to answering that question on Fra Ma Ga Ra, where saxophonist Frank Lozano adds some lively, tense honking to a traffic jam of equally frenetic violin freakouts and shards of broken bottle percussive effects.

A cross-cultural synthesis recorded in Montréal, featuring South Indian percussionist Ganesh Anandan, violinist Malcolm Goldstein and improvising guitarist Rainer Wiens, here on prepared guitar. Anandan plays frame drum, tambourines, metallophone, cheng, steel drum, kalimba and paou. On one track, Fra Ma Ga Ra, saxophonist Frank Lozano is added. On Ra Ma — just Rainer Wiens and Malcolm Goldstein, you get the idea — Wiens’s clangorous guitar conversing with Goldstein, whose skittering Improv is far remwed from classical violin. On Fra Ma Ga Ra, the guitarist’s beguiling twanglings set off some raw sax from Lozano. Lullaby concludes the CD with Anandan’s metallophone conjuring sounds of great delicacy, and Goldstein’s violin as close to quiet Iyricism as it’s likely to get.

This album isn’t a violent yoking together of diverse traditions. Each musician listens and responds naturally — and beauty combines with sonic adventurousness to make an enthralling CD.

En 2003, le percussionniste d’origine sud-indienne Ganesh Anandan a attiré les regards. Lui qui s’activait dans l’ombre d’artistes «world» et de danseurs s’impose de plus en plus comme un improvisateur et un créateur. Deux disques, Imaginaria (un duo de percussions avec Patrick Graham) et Speaking in Tongues (en trio avec Rainer Wiens et Malcolm Goldstein), ont témoigné de ce regain d’activité en 2003. La nouvelle année sera-t-elle aussi chargée? «Je pense que oui!» pouffe-t-il au bout du fil, ravi. C’est qu’il prépare un spectacle solo pour février, qui sera présenté au Théâtre La Chapelle, dans une mise en scène de Guy Laramée, avec projections vidéo de Dominique Sicotte. «Ça s’appelle Ici et là-bas. C’est basé sur l’immigration. Toute la présentation est centrée sur le tambour sur cadre (frame drum) et je raconte entièrement en français.» Le projet promet de révéler l’originalité de cet artiste encore méconnu. Mais ce n’est pas tout. Un nouvel album avec Rainer Wiens, Up North, devrait paraître au printemps. Le duo ira à Vancouver en juillet, après quelques jours à Ulan Bator, Mongolie, où ils participeront à un festival de musique actuelle! «Wolfgang Stryi, le clarinettiste de l’Ensemble Modern, sera notre invité.» C’est qu’Anandan vient de terminer une collaboration avec le prestigieux ensemble allemand, qui avait invité quatre compositeurs d’origine indienne à soumettre de nouvelles œuvres. Le projet paraîtra sur disque en cours d’année. Et ce n’est que la pointe de l’iceberg. Gardez l’œil ouvert; vous croiserez le nom de Ganesh Anandan à plusieurs reprises en 2004.

Speaking in Tongues is a high-level meeting between three delicate and inventive musicians. Its oriental sonorities and improvised segments makes this album an acessible and refined listen. An equilibrium attained only by a skillfull blend of virtuosity and attention that leaves the listener delighted.