Charles Trudel

Benjamin Deschamps: Augmented Reality

by Anya Wassenberg
December 15, 2021

A dynamic approach, delivered with crisp modern panache, characterizes saxophonist, clarinetist & composer Benjamin Deschamps' Augmented Reality. For Deschamps, a greater reliance on an electric sound marks a considered departure from earlier work. A sense of forward momentum pervades all the tracks on the album, notably anchored by Al Bourgeois on the drumkit. Deschamps' and his sax lead off the first track, “Unfinished Business," a song with an aggressive drive that showcases the ensemble's strengths-- virtuosic technical precision, ...