François Couture, Monsieur Délire, April 11, 2011
Jean Derome (sax), Normand Guilbeault (bass) and Pierre Tanguay (drums) are back with a new studio album consisting of a blend of originals (by Derome) and standards (by Ellington, Kirk, Dolphy, Strayhorn and Mengelberg). This project is where Derome invests his melodicism the most, which makes Danse à l’Anvers a listener-friendly, approachable and seductive record, for any jazz fan with a slightly open-minded attitude. Derome’s compositions are well chiseled, especially Half-Way House and the title track. Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s Rip, Rig and Panic is marvelously frantic, and Mengelberg’s Poor Wheel carefully confused.