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Francois Carrier: The Joy of Being
ByCarrier's alto saxophone aerobatics reside at the heart of the recital. He displays remarkable command of expressive distortion, overblowing and deployment of harmonics. He's particularly adept at sliding between notes and rarely settles on a conventional tone. As might be expected given the length of their association Lambert's drumming, which is light, tappy and focussed on timbre and pitch, never overwhelms the discourse, in spite of occasional bursts of heavy but responsive accentuation. On the acoustic bass guitar (it looks like a guitar with an extended neck) Mazur's nimble woody pizzicato imparts momentum and maintains a busy constant counterpoint.
Finely tuned interplay predominates across each of the six cuts, which sound as if excerpted from a longer performance. The threesome upholds a spacious, transparent approach, in that everyone's contribution is clearly audible notwithstanding the near continual activity. The title track opens proceedings, establishing the template of conversational dialogue between Carrier's accomplished alto and limber loose bass and drums.
Towards the close Carrier varies his palette by introducing pinched squeaky toy sonorities on Chinese oboe, an effect which reappears on "Blissfulness" and "Mystery Of Creation." That apart, all three instruments explore a similar dynamic range, which makes the exceptions like the end of the latter number where Carrier pits his slow, near lyrical, alto lines to contrast with the chattering drums and bass, all the more notable.
Track Listing
The Joy of Being; Blissfulness; True Nature; Mystery of Creation; Omnipresent Beauty; Disappearance.
Personnel
François Carrier
saxophone, altoFrancois Carrier: alto saxophone; Chinese oboe; Rafal Mazur: acoustic bass guitar; Michel Lambert: drums.
Album information
Title: The Joy of Being | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: NoBusiness Records
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About François Carrier
Instrument: Saxophone, alto
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