Navré dans Rubberneck
Navré is quite another proposition. Jean Derome (reeds, flute & piccolo) is one of the leading figures on the Québec new music scene and his 6-piece reflects the varied interests of this scene—improv, avant-rock, free jazz, chamber composition, etc. Like L’Orkestre des pas perdus, Dangereux Zhoms have a nifty sense of humour, but deploy it in circumstances where greater freedom from composed strictures is encouraged. Any group which sports a daxophone must have a twinkle in its eye, though René Lussier’s exploits are less well known than Reichel’s. On Anchive the little beastie provides the perfect foil for Derome’s Ornettish alto. Train Pour Nuremberg cuts and thrusts between avant-rock and free jazz with shades of Henry Cow in Lussier’s guitar and Derome’s bassoon-like baritone exchanges. The themes (all by Derome) are suitably transparent and flexible enough to allow the improv to take hold and spread in many directions at once

