Pas de deux, Frith’s duo disc with percussionist Danielle Palardy Rogers, a stunning series of improvisations that, according to the notes, are somehow edited and even superimposed. The results are intriguing and diverse. Contrast the frenetic power and fractious pointillisms of Dernier cri with the ageless beauty and meditative grace of L’Auberge des Quatre vents 1, with its flute-like guitar work and eventual shamanistic vocalizations. The recordings are first-rate, details coming to the fore while the overall picture is never marred or blurred.

Animated by a pair of inspired ideas: a steady focus on extended piano technique as a timbral playground of percussive expanse and recording this material from the perspective of the performer. It’s amazing how much the nuances of extended piano sounds shift relative to the ears perceiving the struck, plucked, strummed and manipulated strings within the instrument. Somewhere the Sea and Salt is offered as a creative encyclopedia of sonorities discovered and coaxed by Chan from the piano. The use of resonance is particularly striking — and a clear path of innovation. The short tracks unfolding as poetry written in sonority.

Pianiste talentueuse: Prix Étoiles Galaxie de Radio-Canada (FIJM 2007), chef d’un quintette qui comprend entre autres: les frères Doxas: Chet (saxophone), Jim (batterie), Marianne Trudel multiplie les rencontres avec passion et intelligence. Après Sands of Time (2007), elle rejoint l’harmoniciste Lévy Bourbonnais pour un long voyage séduisant, brillant harmoniquement et sensible, trait commun à deux grands artistes. La mémoire aidant, privilège d’avoir beaucoup écouté, votre signataire s’est souvenu des rencontres entre les pianistes Bill Evans/Kenny Werner et l’harmoniciste Toots Thielemans. L’embarquée baigne dans cette atmosphère, un brin mélancolique qui fait appel aux voyages, songes en tout genre et méditation sur des modes qui vont du jazz modal à l’improvisation, pas trop pure quand même. Sensible!

Vulgarités is a work of alchemy, an irreverent and mysterious record unfolding on its own terms. Côté and Ceccarelli lure us inside their creepy laboratory, stirring a potion of drums, piano, lap steel and demented trumpet infused with haunted electronic treatment and a taste of cryptic feedback. The experience moves from rambunctious to ambient, guided by a wry and vulgar sense of humour.

8/10