Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Christophe Studer/Lucien Dubuis: Madame Chili

151

Christophe Studer/Lucien Dubuis: Madame Chili

By

Sign in to view read count
Christophe Studer/Lucien Dubuis: Madame Chili
Multi-reedist Lucien Dubuis and keyboardist Christophe Studer have been active forces on the jazz scene in their native Switzerland since the late '90s. Of the two young players, both in their early thirties, Dubuis is perhaps the better known, having worked with top Swiss improvisers Hans Koch and Martin Schutz and, most recently, New York guitar god Marc Ribot. But Studer's reputation as a man to watch is also mounting, thanks to his tenure as pianist with the vaunted Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra and the well-received solo ballads album he released this year. Both musicians have also been frequent performers at Montreux and other high-profile festivals during the past few years.

Madame Chili is a fairly engaging outing of duets that the pair had evidently been planning for quite some time. Dubuis plays contrabass and bass clarinets and Studer is on piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, and synthesizer. The set allows little room for coasting as the conversation flows unabated for nearly eighty minutes.

Studer's splayed, spiky piano chords on tunes like "Départ Au Zoo and "Megabionicrobot show how well he's internalized Monk and Bud Powell. And one can't help but think of Chick Corea's stint with electric-period Miles Davis on the Rhodes-soaked "Les Gros Pouce, though the dynamic initiated by Dubuis' throaty honks is far tetchier than that created by Miles' smooth, probing arcs.

While Madame Chili has many other golden moments—the fractured soul vamp of "Ça Blues?," the haunted roller rink organ of "Amélie Moutarde," the reverberating, distorted Rhodes of "Noukette — the field often feels uneven. While Studer's sympathetic comping and excellent use of space do give the record an expansive atmosphere, Dubuis doesn't seem to know when to lay off, letting torrents fly arbitrarily when Studer is clearly in a more introspective mode.

Yet the duo does lock in and end up on the same page frequently enough to produce some excellent results. "Sans les Ongles Ou Alors Coupe'les! is a tension-pregnant storm cloud of rising synth and organ waves, made all the more foreboding by the simmering sub-bass squawks Dubuis stacks in his corner in a cold-hearted manner. Almost cruelly, the piece never reaches critical mass, going out the way it came in: with a slow fade.

There's definitely enough great music here to recommend an investigation, but truthfully the artists could have lopped off about twenty minutes and made this a much stronger release. A couple of the pieces go on a minute or so after the ideas have run out, and Dubuis' unfettered approach can be exhausting. Still, it's good stuff—just don't consume it all in one sitting.

Visit Lucien Dubuis on the web.

Track Listing

Petits Petons; C't'Equipe; Depart Au Zoo; Le Gros Pouce; 1/2; Interlude; Hymne Patriote; Le Va-et-vient du Petit Nain; L'Entrepouces; Ca Blues?; Amelie Moutarde; Interlude; L'Arc Noir; Interlude; Megabionicrobot; Noukette.

Personnel

Lucien Dubuis: bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; Christophe Studer: piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer.

Album information

Title: Madame Chili | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Unit 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

Sensual
Rachel Z
Over and Over
Tony Monaco Trio
Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

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