Contrabassist supreme, Joëlle Léandre always excels in the duo situation. Check out any of her many duo excursions with Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Irene Schweizer, India Cooke, Kevin Norton, Barre Phillips or William Parker, and you will find each to be wonderful in its own way. Once again we find Joëlle in another extraordinary duo. I recall Montréal-based pianist Quentin Sirjacq from a trio he is in with Antoine Berthiaume & Norman Teale that played a the Victo Fest a few years back and were great, as is their CD on AM.

This is a studio date that was recorded in Paris by Jean Marc Foussat, who always does a fabulous job with each disc that he has recorded and mixed for Joëlle. Right from the first note, we know we are in for some superb, magical sounds. Most of the pieces are relatively short so that they focus in on certain areas of sound. Fragment 1 sounds like the bass is breathing slowly in and out, organically unfolding. Fragment 2 is more explosive with cautious inside-the-piano sounds balancing more hyper-tense moments. Quentin plays a dreamy gentle, melodic fragment on Presence while Joëlle brings in some darker sounds banging softly on her her bass with her bow. The suspense grows deeper on The Call while Quentin holds down the sustain pedal while playing minimal skeletal notes as Joëlle also plays hushed bowed ghost-like notes. Ruin seems to be appropriately titled since Joëlle’s spooky voice and the dark piano rumble through the ruins of our collective minds. Each piece feels like a scene from a story or a soundtrack to film noir type of movie. Once again a duo exchange brings out the best from Joëlle Léandre and her current collaborator Quentin Sirjacq.