Francios Bourassa Quartet: Swirl: Live @ Piccolo

Canadian jazz artist Francois Bourassa, a seasoned musician boasting eleven albums of his original music under his name, went into Studio Piccolo, Montreal in July of 2022 to record Swirl. He employs a quartet to realize his artistic vision here, a classic line-up of piano, bass, drums and a saxophonist who doubles on flute. The pianist proves himself here a writer of unorthodox beauty, crafting circuitous tunes full of intricate and unexpected twists and turns.

The twelve-plus minute "Pooloop" opens the set with an urgent and unsettled mood that eases into a contemplative drifting that then pops to life with an intense and dark-hued groove. Nothing is predictable with this tune full of waxing and waning interludes, floating in outer space one moment, diving into the atmosphere the next with a mission in mind.

The eloquent thirteen-minute "Prologue" is next, defying a prologue's expectations of opening the show and the characteristic brevity and concision of such introductions into the music that follows. Andre Leroux's flute opens in a near-subliminal mode before gathering a tranquil energy. It sounds like a deep space cloud with a gravitational aspect to it that is considering becoming a galaxy, as the stars of the leader's bright, delicate piano notes blink into existence, while drummer Guillaume Pilot and bassist Guy Boisvert collect loose matter to create a central black hole.

Those first two tunes clock in at twenty-five minutes—nearly an album's worth of music in vinyl days. The four compositions that follow it keep a consistent mood of mystery with sometimes ominous overtones combined with a cinematically-beautiful eeriness and ever-changing landscapes (outer space-scapes?). Call it a suite if you will.