Daniel Thouin: Organique
Even the less original moments lead somewhere. "Damas" set off my cliché detector when I first heard the intro. The tune surprised me, though, with angular melodic clusters and a passionate B section which nods at either "Giant Steps" or the bridge to "Have You Met Mrs. Jones," depending on your decade of reference. On "La Spine," Thouin has, to misquote somebody-or-other, a young man’s fascination with the symmetric diminished scale (half-step/whole-step). But watch that space for further developments. If he digs around he may find a new chromaticism using the old sym/dim as a framework.
Dan Thouin, Norman Lachapelle, Yannick Rieu, Steve Kaldestad, Karl Jannuska – their resumes sport a bunch of other French-Canadian names Gotham-centric jazz fans won’t know. But from the evidence on Organique there must be a hell of scene in Montreal populated with real improvisers who know what not to play.
Track Listing
Blues pour Blackwell I; La Spine; Cloud; Bzigu
Personnel
Daniel Thouin, piano; Yannick Rieu, tenor saxophone; Steve Kaldestad, tenor saxophone; Norman LaChapelle, Bass; Karl Jannuska, drums.
Album information
Title: Organique | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Effendi Records