Home » Jazz Articles » François Carrier
Jazz Articles about François Carrier
Francois Carrier / Alexey Lapin / Michel Lambert: Inner Spire
by John Eyles
For Inner Spire, his fourth release on Leo records, Montreal-based alto saxophonist François Carrier performs with a new trio, retaining his long-standing collaborator Michel Lambert on drums and replacing double-bass with piano, played by Alexey Lapin. Recorded at the DOM Cultural Centre in Moscow in December 2010, the album's five tracks were entirely improvised. That is not immediately obvious as, without any tentative warming-up period, right from the start of the title track Carrier and Lapin are in full flow, ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier Trio + 1: Entrance 3
by Glenn Astarita
Venerable Canadian saxophonist Francois Carrier steers his trio and celebrated Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson into many circuitous routes during this set recorded at the 2002 Vancouver Jazz Festival. The musicians instill profundity into this democratic set, where the instrumentation is mixed with a horizontal plane approach. Here, Carrier's spirited attack is fused with grace, power and lyrically resplendent voicings, amid ventures into the freer realm. The band's budding passages signify a consortium of slants, comprising investigative techniques ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier: Entrance 3
by Mark Corroto
Some artists have a way of synthesizing various modes and trends in their craft, so that their art comes off as all-inclusive and incredibly original. Canadian saxophonist François Carrier is one such artist. On Entrance 3, he bridges modern free jazz and mid-1960s post-bop, with guest pianist Bobo Stenson and his working trio of bassist Pierre Côté and drummer Michel Lambert. Recorded in 2002 at the Vancouver Jazz Festival, this disc presents Carrier and company in their best ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier: Within
by Budd Kopman
Within opens with François Carrier's alto saxophone played alone. From these very precise, centered, and yet soft-edged notes, the change to the listening space is immediate and complete. The line floats and twists, making feints towards melody, rhythmic regularity and harmony, only to turn away. A seemingly familiar phrase flies by without being developed, but rather is consumed in the ongoing flow of the music. Such is the impact of this June 24, 2007 live recording from ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier / Michel Lambert: Kathmandu
by Budd Kopman
Alto saxophonist Francois Carrier is one of the most open musical souls around. When he went to Nepal in October of 2006 with his long-time musical partner, drummer Michel Lambert, to play in the fifth Jazzmandu jazz festival there, the depth of the connection he immediately felt with the Nepali people overwhelmed him. Kathmandu is the result of that encounter, and his emotions can be readily heard in the music. The group was supposed to be a ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier: Noh
by Budd Kopman
Francois Carrier lives his life and plays his music with the Zen ideal in mind, and can sound like Thich Nhat Hahn when asked about his art: To be alive is beautiful, to breathe is beautiful, and to create music in the Now is beautiful. From this vantage point, Noh too, is beautiful. Briefly, the Zen Buddhist ideal is to live in the moment at the intersection of the Absolute (sacred) and the Discriminatory (profane) worlds. The ...
Continue ReadingFrancois Carrier / Dewey Redman / Michel Donato / Ron Seguin / Michel Lambert: Open Spaces
by Florence Wetzel
Jazz lost one of its giants when the great Dewey Redman passed away on 2nd September 2006. The tenor saxophonist was a man of enormous vitality and soul, and his presence will be sorely missed. Fortunately technology's magic includes the ability to keep music alive, and Redman can always be heard on a myriad of released and hopefully soon-to-be released CDs. Open Spaces comprises three improvised songs culled from a series of 1999 concerts in Quebec City, ...
Continue Reading
