La M?moire des Mains - Louis Sclavis, Chevillon, Bruno
Clarinets are still out of fashion in American jazz, despite recent quality revival efforts from Don Byron, Ken Peplowski, Chris Speed, and a few others. Too much work with that tight fingering, and tuning in twelfths! C... more »larinets are much less rare in Europe, and are smack in the French tradition. It's no wonder that Louis Sclavis plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and some soprano sax in his quintet with trumpet, cello, bass, and drums. Melody lines on this date show influences of North Africa and the Middle East, using Eastern modes in lively dance steps and odd meters. This exploratory album has symmetrical architecture, like an Islamic mosque's prayer niche, with long, fast, dancelike numbers separated by shorter moody, smoky meditations mostly featuring bass clarinet, cello, and/or bass. Eight shorter pieces surround a central concert-length (17 minutes) composition, "Hommage à Lounès Matoub"--an Algerian freedom-fighter who was executed--with opening trumpet fanfares and cello meditation ceding to a slow, slinky dance and eventually a faster one, featuring furious soprano sax. Sclavis moves closest to the blues on the piece that follows, "Le temps d'après," a ruminative, fascinating duet for bass clarinet and the bass of Bruno Chevillon (his sole band mate from his 1996 tribute to Renaissance composer Jean-Philippe Rameau). Sclavis occasionally demonstrates distinctive intimations of Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet vernacular, particularly on driving sections of "Maputo." --Fred Bouchard« less
Clarinets are still out of fashion in American jazz, despite recent quality revival efforts from Don Byron, Ken Peplowski, Chris Speed, and a few others. Too much work with that tight fingering, and tuning in twelfths! Clarinets are much less rare in Europe, and are smack in the French tradition. It's no wonder that Louis Sclavis plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and some soprano sax in his quintet with trumpet, cello, bass, and drums. Melody lines on this date show influences of North Africa and the Middle East, using Eastern modes in lively dance steps and odd meters. This exploratory album has symmetrical architecture, like an Islamic mosque's prayer niche, with long, fast, dancelike numbers separated by shorter moody, smoky meditations mostly featuring bass clarinet, cello, and/or bass. Eight shorter pieces surround a central concert-length (17 minutes) composition, "Hommage à Lounès Matoub"--an Algerian freedom-fighter who was executed--with opening trumpet fanfares and cello meditation ceding to a slow, slinky dance and eventually a faster one, featuring furious soprano sax. Sclavis moves closest to the blues on the piece that follows, "Le temps d'après," a ruminative, fascinating duet for bass clarinet and the bass of Bruno Chevillon (his sole band mate from his 1996 tribute to Renaissance composer Jean-Philippe Rameau). Sclavis occasionally demonstrates distinctive intimations of Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet vernacular, particularly on driving sections of "Maputo." --Fred Bouchard
CD Reviews
Hot?really hot!
MurrayTheCat | upstate New York | 02/07/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With this release, Louis Sclavis has jettisoned himself to that uppermost region, that status level where my most favorite artists reside. Much like previous albums ROUGE, ACOUSTIC QUARTET and LES VIOLENCES DE RAMEAU, the musicians on L'AFFRONTEMENT DES PRETENDANTS sound like they possess telepathic powers, and that they have played together for years. The compositions are very strong, very fresh ...very distinctive. When the soloists take off (all of the players here are extremely talented), the free improvisation sticks very closely to the spirit of the composition, and the culmination of each solo is electrifying to say the least. Many of the tunes have an infectious, rhythmic buoyancy; the title cut dances madly with glee. All of the songs have an abundance of character: like the interchange between the winds and strings in "Hommage a Lounes Matoub" after the trumpet solo (8:48 through 9:43), or how the drum beat staggers about in "Maputo" and how the melody makes the whole thing stumble forward quickly and awkwardly, and, I must add, delightfully. One of the most thrilling sections is in "Possibles" at 1:34: the trumpet and bass play a highly syncopated line behind Louis's solo; then at 1:59, Sclavis joins in with the playing of the line--but the result sounds as if he continues with his solo and the background players join him! I could go on forever; the music making throughout the album is simply enthralling.I guess this would be called avant-garde. (Much like the term "modern," "avant-garde" often doesn't exactly describe what it once did. Rather than meaning daring, experimental or radical, "avant-garde" has come to often define a certain flavor of jazz that has been with us for years and years now.) Fans of such music should love this. Even those who are usually scared off by the unconventionalities of free playing might take to this, the rhythmic gyrations are so infectious. The album is hot--really hot!--and strongly recommended.Cheers,
Murray"
Great album
MurrayTheCat | 12/14/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Why write my own review when Thom Jurek of allmusic.com put it so well? Here's what he said (it may sound familiar):The latest ECM date by clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Louis Sclavis moves astray from his previous concept-oriented albums and toward musical settings that showcase his stunning new quintet. The only remaining member from his last band is bassist Bruno Chevillon. Once again, however, Sclavis gives listeners a puzzle to solve in the title: Who are these confrontational pretenders? Or, does the reference suggest that these very same pretenders are staking a claim to a throne or position of authority? Both cases may be self-referential given the absolute musical muscle on display here. The title track that opens the disc features a streaming trumpet workout by the all-but-unknown Jean Luc Capozzo. His playing comes from many sources, the most recent of which are Wadada Leo Smith and Lester Bowie, and the influence of African and Arab musical modalities that inform his melodic improvisations. His lyric line is complex, long, and knotty, bringing both harmonic and modal considerations to the fore. Rhythm in this band is also provocative, given that there is no pianist to muck things up. Cellist Vincent Courtois covers a lot of this territory, leaving both Chevillon and drummer Francois Merville to break time, cross it, and stretch by means of interactive methodologies and interpretive interval signatures that may or may not come from Western music. Elsewhere, such as on "Distances," a swinging post-bop melodic phrasing is intercut with Parisian salon music. One can hear the humor of Erik Satie cascading through Sclavis' clarinet solo and the rich, triple-time cowbell beats stuttered by Merville. The music is as perverse as it is virtuosi. But the true musical marvel that is this quintet is on the mammoth suite "Hommage à Lounès Matoub," a tribute to the late Algerian protest singer who was assassinated in 1998. The mournful opening measures are played with heartbreaking grace by Capozzo, and give way to the solo dirge by Courtois, which is tinted with a trace of rage at its fringes. Six minutes in, the rest of the band enters, again led by Capozzo soloing, becoming the slain singer's voice in the heart of the mix. The North African-percussion styles employed by Merville criss-cross and undulate; they seem to imitate frame and raku drums. The tempo and mood pick up about ten minutes in, and here the ensemble moves through complex harmonic and modal territory, leaving their previously flexible style for a manner of playing that hints at transcendence and even victory, a musical space that suggests that memory is what triumphs because it carries on where a person cannot. This is a jazz group that moves from Coltrane-like intensity (Sclavis' soprano solo in the "Hommage" quotes "India" in three places and Steve Lacy's "Blinks" in two others) to a musical expressionism that echoes both Boulez and Messiaen. Finally, there is the presence of Africa that looms so heavily in Sclavis' musical heart, due to the amount of time he spends there, that it cannot help but be expressed alongside the other music. These West African melodies that at first come in hints and phrases assert themselves in tonal capacities as well as in solos. In sum, it is as a quintet this band plays, as a musical unit that is seasoned and confident and in full possession of its strengths and musical empathies. So democratic and accomplished is this band that it sounds as if it has no leader, but only music to play."
One of my best CDs
clarnibass | Israel | 05/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"louis sclavis is one of my favorite players. after listening to him on 'double trio - green dolphy suite' i knew i had to get another of his CDs. i chose this one and i made the right choice. he is the best bass clarinet in the world in my opinion, on clarinet he is also amazing, thogh i'm not crazy about his sound. on soprano sax i don't know a better payer than him since coltrane, and i'm not comparing them. the bass, cello, drums and trumpet players here are some of the best i've ever heard."
Unusual Sonorities
Karl W. Nehring | Ostrander, OH USA | 08/08/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Based on my enthusiasm for Sclavis's Dans la nuit, I thought it would be worthwhile to audition some more of his work. L'affrontement des prétendants was released in 2001. Besides Sclavis on clarinets and soprano saxophone, it features Jean-Luc Cappozzo on trumpet, Vincent Courtois on cello, Francois Merville on drums, and Bruno Chevillon on bass.
Although the music still has a sense of both jazz and chamber music about it, the jazz element is more in the forefront on this outing. The combination of clarinet, cello, and trumpet makes for some unusual sonorities, the trumpet bringing the feel of jazz, the clarinet and cello sometimes bringing the feel of chamber music, and the bass and drums driving things along with some complex rhythms. The musicians are bursting with energy, making this a truly dynamic and exciting recording that has a sound like no other recording in my collection.
No, this is not easy listening jazz (or easy listening chamber music, for that matter), but if you enjoy jazz and are willing to stretch your ears a bit, you really ought to give this CD an audition. Sclavis is a musician with a unique background (not too many jazz players have spun off from Pierre Boulez's band...) and a fascinating musical vision. The French engineering crew does a heck of a job, too, providing powerful sound for this powerful music."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1