François Couture, Monsieur Délire, January 20, 2014
Le Caillou [The Pebble or The Stone] is an improvisation concept by Danielle Palardy Roger. Here it is in five realizations recorded between 1998 and 2013, plus the other two movements (Le Cristal and Le Camion) of the suite it was first designed for. Personnel varies greatly (I’ll point out a guest appearance by Joëlle Léandre), locations too (live, in studio, in Montréal, in New York), but each take delivers top-notch structured improvising. The development of the improvisation bounces from musician to musician, allowing each one to establish their personality while also blending into the group’s playing. Ambiances Magnétiques fans know all the musicians here and will take pleasure in following them has the pebble changes hands.