Louis Sclavis - Dans la nuit (2002)

2011-10-20T09:03:56Z

Louis Sclavis - Dans la nuit (2002)


01. Dia Dia
02. Le travail
03. Dans la nuit
04. Fete foraine
05. Retour de noce
06. Mauvais reve
07. Amour et beaute
08. L'accident part 1
09. L'accident part 2
10. Le miroir
11. Dans la nuit
12. La fuite
13. La peur du noir
14. Les 2 visages
15. Dia Dia
16. Dans la nuit

Jean-Louis Matinier - accordion
Dominique Pifarely - violin
Louis Sclavis - clarinet
Vincent Courtois - cello
Fran+єois Merville - marimba, drums

Influenced by dance, theater, and the fine arts, composer/clarinetist Louis Sclavis once again illustrates his increasing relevance to modern music thanks to this impressive 2002 effort. With his fifth outing for ECM Records, Sclavis continues his path of artistic excellence. This is a soundtrack for a recently exhumed French silent movie, though viewing the film shouldn't necessarily be a prerequisite for letting one's imagination delve into the visual aspects of this reconditioned antique. On this release, the clarinetist utilizes a dual string section to complement accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier's Parisian cabaret-type musings amid the quintet's shrewd instillation of movement. The musicians intertwine chamber-esque accents with elements of jazz and European folksiness during many of these selections, where animated choruses and memorably melodic themes abound throughout. Essentially, the band provides the listener with a tool for his or her imagination, as listeners can envision dancers and cinematic episodes in concert with the artists' probing lines and fragilely executed unison choruses. They also investigate various angles to coincide with an abundance of inspiring subplots and minimalist-type excursions. Another interesting component relates to the soloists' radiant harmonies and contrapuntal statements. Simply put, Sclavis' multi-hued and altogether vividly constructed arrangements hit the mark in a noticeably huge way. ---Glenn Astarita, Rovi

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Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio - Sources (2012)

2011-10-21T08:37:31Z

Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio - Sources (2012)


01. Près d'Hagondange
02. Dresseur de nuages
03. La Disparition
04. A Road To Karaganda
05. Sources
06. Migration
07. Quai sud
08. Along The Niger
09. Outside Of Maps
10. Sous influences

Louis Sclavis - Bass Clarinet, Clarinet
Benjamin Moussay - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Keyboards
Gilles Coronado - Electric Guitar

It's not uncommon for artists to shake things up by changing personnel to explore roads previously untraveled, but few push themselves so relentlessly into new territory through revamped instrumentation as Louis Sclavis. Still, since coming to ECM with the auspicious Rouge (1992), the French clarinetist/saxophonist has always maintained continuity between recordings—cellist Vincent Courtois carried over from Dans La Nuit (2002) to Napoli's Walls (2003), and percussionist François Merville showing up on L'imparfait des langues (2007) and Lost Along the Way (2009) five years after Dans La Nuit. With Atlas Trio's Sources, however, the ever-searching Sclavis eschews all past ECM affiliations in a previously unexplored instrumental configuration.

The result is, for Sclavis followers, paradoxically familiar and filled with the kind of surprise upon which the fearless composer/improviser has built his reputation. The trio context provides more inherent space, despite the potential for guitar and keyboards to create denser aural landscapes, especially given guitarist Gilles Coronado's predilection for tart, slightly jagged-edged tones and Benjamin Moussay's arsenal of piano, Fender Rhodes and other keyboards. Moussay's broad reach allows him to support both Coronado's fuzz-toned solo and Sclavis' serpentine, middle-eastern clarinet lines on "A Road to Karaganda" with a relentless Rhodes bass line, even as things turn from angular to near-gentle with his delicate right -hand piano work—though Coronado's jagged chordal support keeps things on edge to the very end.

Elsewhere, Coronado adopts a cleaner tone on "Along the Niger. His reverb-driven a cappella suggests Bill Frisell as a touchstone, with leading notes continually layering, one over the next, to create a sense of ongoing harmonic sustenance as the guitarist slowly finds his way to the dark, plaintive composition's primary melody together with Sclavis, on bass clarinet. When Moussay finally enters, on piano, to complete the picture, the threesome interactively winds its way through Sclavis' form, turning it into one of Sources' most lyrical and beautiful compositions. "Outside the Maps," on the other hand, is Atlas Trio at its most oblique—if not impenetrable, then certainly challenging—a group improvisation where bass clarinet dominates, as Coronado's in-the-weeds tremolo'd guitar and Mousay's piano and electronics help broaden the landscape, even as Sclavis' tone ranges from pure to, at times, guttural.

Aside from "Outside the Maps," Coronado's "Sous influences" is the only other non-Sclavis track. Here, the clarinetist begins alone—a bass clarinet master class in conventional and extended techniques—before leading into an almost ("almost" being the operative word) funky collective, Coronado's scratchy accompaniment and Moussay's ring modulated Rhodes creating otherworldly textures of harsh dissonance and tension-resolving low tones. When an elliptical theme based on leaping intervals and intensifying drama finally emerges, it forms the foundation for the more through-composed second half of Coronado's seven-minute closer.

Even in its most scored moments, Sources is predicated on the freedom of expression that's been a cornerstone of Sclavis' entire career. Here, however, even the clarinetist's renowned unpredictability is trumped by a collective sound like no other, one that searches for—and finds—a new paradigm of contemporary improvised chamber music, and yet another milestone in Sclavis' consistently impressive discography. ---John Kelman, allaboutjazz.com

Każdy ambitny artysta musi od czasu do czasu przewartościowywać swój dorobek, zmieniać swoją muzykę, w pewnym sensie zaczynać od początku. Dotyczy to także francuskiego klarnecisty Louisa Sclavisa. Jeśli przeanalizujemy jego płyty z ostatnich kilku lat, łatwo dostrzeżemy, że przy wszystkich wariacjach stylistycznych i personalnych obraca się najczęściej w kręgu tych samych kilkunastu muzycznych partnerów. To oczywiście nie zarzut – porozumienie między muzykami często owocuje twórczością głębszą, oryginalniejszą, precyzyjniej opracowaną i z większym polotem wykonywaną.

Przychodzi jednak moment, kiedy zaczynamy się kręcić w kółko, kiedy osobowości kolegów narzucają nam charakter muzyki, a ilość możliwych kombinacji się wyczerpuje i trzeba za wszelką cenę wyjść z zaklętego kręgu.

Sclavis na „Sources” dokonał kroku radykalnego. Nie tylko dobrał sobie zupełnie nowych muzyków, ale także zrezygnował z basu i, tak ważnych zawsze w jego muzyce, instrumentów perkusyjnych.

Czy to jest zupełnie nowy Sclavis? I tak, i nie. Tak – bo świetny pianista Benjamin Moussay nadaje muzyce lidera bardziej impresjonistycznego charakteru niż kiedykolwiek dotąd. Z kolei rozgadana i elastyczna gitara Gillesa Coronado zbliża się już to do eterycznego stylu Billa Frisella, już to do ekspresyjnego, sonorystycznego szaleństwa.

Z drugiej jednak strony Louis Sclavis wciąż penetruje pachnące Orientem melodie, nadal stosuje perkusyjne efekty (szczególnie na klarnecie basowym) – tu bardzo istotne, ze względu na brak perkusji. Nieodmiennie też czaruje swoją maestrią i elokwencją wyrastającymi z doskonałego klasycznego przygotowania. Nie jest też wielką nowością wspomniany impresjonizm, bo jako francuski artysta ma on całotonowe Debussy’owskie skale niejako we krwi i słychać je było również na jego wcześniejszych płytach. Nigdy jednak w takim wymiarze, jak na najnowszej.

Na koniec wypada podsumować – jest to znakomity album, który słucha się jednym tchem, najlepszy od czasu „L’ Imparfait Des Langues” (2007 r.). Wpuszczenie świeżej krwi okazało się zbawienne... --- Marek Romański, jazzforum.com.pl

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Louis Sclavis - Dans la nuit (2002)

Louis Sclavis Atlas Trio - Sources (2012)