Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Leandre - Delbecq - Houle: 14 rue Paul Forte, Paris

12

Leandre - Delbecq - Houle: 14 rue Paul Forte, Paris

By

Sign in to view read count
Leandre - Delbecq - Houle: 14 rue Paul Forte, Paris
Leo Records' press release correlates this trio's output to "heavy artillery" music, but it's most assuredly not all about bombast or in-your-face type avant-garde improvisation. Hence, these esteemed improvisers do what they do best in front of a select audience in Paris. Bassist Joelle Léandre and Benoit Delbecq hail from France and like Canadian clarinetist Francois Houle, are among the crème de la crème of global improvisational artisans, and as anticipated, they dutifully get the job done here. The agenda broadcasts a potpourri of thought-provoking applications, where the musicians often interrogate each other's musical psyches via gradual alignments, scathing flurries and deep, trio-based processes. It's serious stuff, but softened with lighthearted musings.

Master bassist Leandre's intricately engineered phrasings and buzzing arco lines drive many of these asymmetrical movements, complemented by Delbecq's deftly articulated sound sculpting and Houle's soft or boisterous choruses. They circumnavigate through an aggregation of disparate moods, countered by sprightly dialogues and much more. For example, on "14 rue Paul Fort 1," Léandre casts a sense of urgency with her scraping, buzz saw type attack and walking tones, as her counterparts float atop the vigorous undercurrent amid odd-metered subplots and swelling passages.

"14 rue Paul Fort 5," is built on Houle's whirling cadenzas and Delbecq's animated lower-register voicings. The trio circles through an assortment of motifs under the auspices of a semi-structured composition. Essentially, they reimagine just about everything previously enacted, highlighting the musicians' acute, on-the-fly creative sparks. Whereas, "14 rue Paul Fort 6" is designed with a hidden or subliminal melody, tinted by the pianist's harmonious clusters, executed with a minimalistic approach, and framed by the bassist's angular crosscurrents. Here and throughout, the artists are at the top of their game and undoubtedly up for the occasion.

Track Listing

14 rue Paul Fort 1 - 14 rue Paul Fort 7.

Personnel

Joelle Léandre: bass; Benoit Delbecq: piano; Francois Houle: clarinets.

Album information

Title: 14 rue Paul Forte, Paris | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Leo Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.