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Jazzlab: Octo Portraits
ByAnother memorable quality of the music is the way the compositions seem to fit like perfect skins onto the individual musicians themselves. Idiomatically speaking, each is a perfect element in the chemical reaction of burnished horns, swaggering woodwinds, rumbling bass and shimmering drums. Moreover, each piece of musicthanks to the fact that it appears written to fit musicians more than instrumentsis, as Duke Ellington would have, a magnificently concocted recipe; each is a dish cooked as if it were fit for the gods. Thus "Ouverture" sounds the way it does, more likely, because these specific instrumentalists people the ensemble that weaves the notes of each layer of counterpoint into the nextsomething that might simply not work if someone other than Lozano was blowing a high and mighty soprano, for instance. The music works definitely because of the sound palette created by the musicians for whom it was written. It is articulated almost by magical intonation and with a significant breath of mysticism by Lozano and the rest of the cast.
This is also inherent in the surreal beauty of "December Hymn," which echoes with fervent spirituality as much as it swings with abandon. Similarly, although the changes of "Tracing the Chain" are familiar, it delights in a topsy turvy world of subtle modality and breathtaking half/full choruses taken by Doyle, bassist Alain Bédard, tenor saxophonist Alexandre Côté, and the rest of the chorus.
This is an album that is also agile and fearless in its richly textured experimental tonality. It also appears that each chart is composed with a specifically featured soloist in mind. For each of the composersparticipating members of the ensembleto write with instinctive accuracy and ingenuity is a rare occurrence. It is also a sign of how exquisitely each musician is entwined with the ensemble and vice versa.
Track Listing
Ouverture; December Hymn; Tracing the Chain; Humor de la Noche; Trois Récits de Voyage; Phil's Spirit; Tibout; Mrs. BB.
Personnel
Frank Lozano: soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet; Rémi Bolduc: alto saxophone; Alexandre Côté: tenor and baritone saxophones; Aron Doyle: trumpet, flugelhorn; Richard Gagnon: trombone; John Roney: piano; Alain Bédard: bass; Isaiah Ceccarelli: drums.
Album information
Title: Octo Portraits | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Effendi Records
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