Derviche (Brochard & Favriou) - Murs absurdes (February 2022 Ayler Records)

The follow-up to their self-titled first album, "Murs Absurdes" finds the duet of Eric Brochard and Fabrice Favriou (Derviche) presenting five new 'sequences' (numbered VI to X). These are (unlike the first five on the previous disc) not separate, independent tracks but conceived to be played as a continuous 'suite', building layer upon layer, turn after turn, a 38+ minutes wall of sound, still hypnotic, still powerful.

1. Sequence VI 09:16

2. Sequence VII 06:34

3. Sequence VIII 06:55

4. Sequence IX 07:14

5. Sequence X 08:06

6. Murs absurdes (complete) 38:08

Eric Brochard, electric bass

Fabrice Favriou, drums

All music by Eric Brochard & Fabrice Favriou.

Recorded on September 23 & 24, 2021 by Pierre-Henri Thiébaut

in the "Logis Férolle", Parthenay, France.

Cover artwork by Alexandre Chanoine & Stéphane Berland.

PRE-ORDER

Joëlle Léandre - At Souillac en Jazz (November 30, 2021 Ayler Records)

This solo by Joëlle Léandre concentrates an energy coming out of the depths of the earth, right from the first strokes of the bow. The huge sound, instantly gripping the body, is overwhelming far beyond the music, an experience so strong that tears flow when it comes to the sung parts. From the depths of the ages, evocative of a Native American medicine woman, an Inuit shaman, voodoo priestess or even blues woman, extracting with bare hands her strings rooted in clay, transcending the sound of her double bass, she awakens a thousand-year-old buried 'collective unconscious' with her voice of trance, inviting ancestral spirits to a form of resistance to fight all the injustices of the world, piercing with sound and love the hearts of both aficionados dreaming of impossible musical utopias and of novices stunned by her visceral “duende”.

(from Christian Pouget's liner notes)

1. Calès I

2. Calès II

3. Calès III

4. Calès IV

5. Calès V

6. Calès VI

7. Calès VII

8. Calès VIII 

Joëlle Léandre - double bass, voice

Recorded live by Christian Pouget on July 18th, 2021 in the Saint-Jacques church of Calès, Lot, France. Tracks #7 & 8 were recorded during a private after-set, once the audience had left.

Mixed and mastered by Maïkôl Seminatore.

All comprovisations by Joëlle Léandre.

Cover artwork by Bénédicte Gallois & Stéphane Berland.

PREORDER

Xavier Charles / Catherine Jauniaux / Jean-Sébastien Mariage - L'amour (June 2021 Ayler Records)

At the instigation of Catherine Jauniaux, three musicians meet around a book by Marguerite Duras. 

Three invented characters inspire music, a pulse, a harmony... through their silhouettes, their relationships, their movements, the space in which they are standing, between the sea, themselves, and an idea of civilization.

A triangular composition that is formed, deformed and reformed, in accordance with the tides. Music that tells of the wandering of souls on the brink of existence.

Lines, dots, strata, melodies and hidden words, impacts shown, acoustic obviously, to meet in the simplest and best way: playing/being together.

This trio does not fail to amaze us with the fluidity of its sound, its sentimental and human generosity and amorous conviction.

Aren't voice, clarinet and guitar the perfect instruments to help us reach these dreams ?

The trio was recorded by Pierre-Henri Thiébaut at the end of 2016 after having toured with this program in 2015 from Paris to Moscow via Draguignan, Berlin and Saint Petersburg.

Then everyone resumed their journey, following other meetings, involved in other projects. A story on hold...

It was finally in 2020 that by mutual agreement and deploring this state of affairs, we entrusted the music to Pierre Etchandy so that he could finalize the sound and allow us to present it to a larger audience than the sole lucky ones having been able to attend concerts by the trio.

Which he did with great care and especially love, we're back to it.

The story continues...

1. Le temps lent 05:23

2. Le triangle se ferme 03:54

3. De même que le ciel 06:26

4. Nuit 04:40

5. Un choc sourd 03:35

6. Trois jours 05:41

7. Le soleil | La marche du fou 05:15

8. Elle dort 03:51

9. Les yeux s'ouvrent | Ils retournent au noir 04:37

10. Ils se taisent | La lumière monte 00:42

11. L'aurore extérieure 04:57

Catherine Jauniaux - voice, objects

Xavier Charles - clarinet

Jean-Sébastien Mariage - electric guitar

Recorded by Pierre-Henri Thiébaut on December 16, 2016

at la Muse en Circuit, Alfortville, France.

Mastered by Pierre Etchandy, September 2020 to March 2021.

A co-production with «Tout Corps d’Etat».

Cover artwork by Catherine Jauniaux.

Pre-order

Dennis González Ataraxia Trio+2 - Nights Enter (March 20, 2021 Ayler Records)

The music on Ataraxia Trio's second offering "Nights Enter" (after their first "Ts’íibil Cháaltun" from 2016) is unlike anything else in Dennis González’ substantial discography. The confluence of organic and electronic elements is seamless, and the swirling blend of textures has a dreamlike quality. Derek Rogers’ shimmering electronic beds contrast with the earthiness of Jagath Lakpriya’s percussion and the muscularity of Drew Phelps' deep song. Jess Garland’s harp adds dazzling points of light, and Dennis proves himself once again to be a master of melody – a trait he shares with the greatest jazz musicians. On "Nights Enter", Ataraxia and friends provide a healing balm for troubled times.

(from Ken Shimamoto's liner notes)

1. Rain Storm

2. The Yendi

3. Cromlech

4. Drift

5. Sita

6. Göbelki Tepe

7. The Loop

8. Approaching Dawn

9. Nights Enter

Dennis González - Treated C trumpet, percussion, conch shell

Drew Phelps - Electric & acoustic bass

Jagath Lakpriya - Tabla & djembe

with:

Derek Rogers - Moog

Jess Garland - Harp

Pre-order

Baptiste Boiron - Lá (2021 Ayler Records)

It is during a residency from February to April 2020 at the Domaine de Kerguéhennec, in Brittany, that saxophonist and composer Baptiste Boiron composed and created the repertoire of the trio “Là”.

As a saxophonist, Baptiste Boiron has been navigating between jazz and contemporary music that he studied with Jean-Yves Bosseur. He has performed with many improvisers as much as he has interpreted the scores of Jean-Sébastien Bach, Claude Debussy, Edgard Varèse, Georges Aperghis and many others ...

From the first track, our ears are caught by the superposition of ostinatos and proposals, as much as by the polyphonic abundance and the multiplication of modes of play, conventional or alternative. This diversity is only matched by the multiplicity of writing processes emanating from an artist whose pen, like saxophones, testifies to a long experience in the classical and contemporary field. These processes are relayed here by his two fellow musicians who, in addition to the spaces left to their own initiatives as improvisers, have contributed to the completion of these scores in which the boundary between the premeditated and the ‘impromptu’ blurs.

The repertoire – all originals, except for three titles – is dedicated to various artists (musicians or not, "who helped me build myself" says the composer) whose names are only delivered to our perspicacity in the form of anagrams. They say something more about this music where the narrative qualities and emotion show through beautiful instrumental and compositional techniques.

1. MAlin né délivré 04:22

2. Là 05:54

3. J’étais cet homme 03:14

4. trace de Fard Gris 06:11

5. Fleurette Africaine 04:21

6. nus, MonoliThe ok 05:06

7. B- Choir nu, l’envol 07:45

8. hAt noyant Bronx 07:48

9. avec StyLe 06:35

10. Bander brutaL 05:16

11. Prayer 03:30

12. Dur trac Mec 14:54

13. Le sourire à travers les larmes 06:39

14. Lonnie’s Lament 07:18

Baptiste Boiron - Soprano, alto & tenor saxophones

Bruno Chevillon - Double bass

Frédéric Gastard - Bass saxophone

All music composed and arranged by Baptiste Boiron

at Centre d’Art de Kerguéhennec, Bignan, France, except

#5 by Duke Ellington, #11 by Keith Jarrett & #14 by John Coltrane

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Fred Woff

Cover photo by Baptiste Boiron

Pre-order

Nicolas Souchal / Michael Nick / Daunik Lazro / Jean-Luc Cappozzo - Neigen (2021 Ayler Records)

« neigen », from the German verb: to tend towards.

Improvisers aspire to the unpredictable, in a relationship of mutual trust. Each one, braced in the moment, is inhabited by the memory of countless music played, heard, dreamed of. Determined by instrumental practice, acquired experience, and by instinct and thought of one’s own.

They strive for those suspended moments where they surrender to this magic that runs through them, of which they become receivers, conducting bodies. They cultivate an appetite for these intense plateaus where one experiences, sometimes fleetingly, an intuitive connection between musicians linked by a telepathic thread.

1. Neigen 04:05

2. Connexe 03:35

3. Point d'assemblage 08:05

4. Narcisse Watered 03:18

5. Apnée D'Aphné 09:29

6. Super Spell 03:49

7. Fenêtre de périodes impaires 07:42

8. Terra motu 04:15

9. L'attracteur étrange 05:13

Nicolas Souchal, trumpet, flugelhorn

Michael Nick, acoustic violin, electro-acoustic octave violin

Daunik Lazro, tenor & baritone saxophones

Jean-Luc Cappozzo, trumpet, flugelhorn, objects

Pre-order

Ikui Doki - Ikui Doki (November 21, AYLER RECORDS 2018)

A trio of chamber jazz who pays tribute to modern music, Ikui Doki is in search of ecstatic landscapes through refined harmonic frames in which everything becomes sound. 

Passionate about creation and articulation, between writing and improvisation, the three musicians in Ikui Doki offer a repertoire of collective compositions inspired by early 20th Century's French music. Their music is a delicate mix of free jazz and jazz aesthetics, with shimmering tones of their renowned predecessors. 

In an unprecedented audacious interpretation, Ikui Doki summons the legendary figures of French music, shattering the usual frames of this repertoire. Improbable, would you think? Not with Ikui Doki!

Sophie Bernado, bassoon, voice

Hugues Mayot, saxophone, clarinet

Rafaelle Rinaudo, harp, effects

1.Pemayangtse

2.Jingle #1

3.LSP 07:43

4.Songe Pastel

5.Chant Pastoral

6.Tiger

7.Cats & Dogs

8.Jingle #2

9.My Taylor is Reich

10.Almanita

11.Debussy l'Africain

12.Secretly in Silence

All music by Sophie Bernado, Hugues Mayot and Rafaelle Rinaudo, 

except #1 & #10 by Sophie Bernado and #4 & #12 by Hugues Mayot. 

Recorded June 11-13, 2018 by Céline Grangey 

at Studio Music Unit, Montreuil, France. 

Cover artwork by Juliette Berny & Stéphane Berland.

Cécile Cappozzo Trio - Sub rosa (AYLER RECORDS 2018)

The cross-talk of the three instrumentalists irresistibly evokes these "flaming collisions" that Lautreamont exhorted, when alternate moments, unfinished or suspended, reiterations, diffractions, flowing and broken sequences of an amazing finish, others stripped in a wilderness where the call to the dance is stealthy but omnipresent and where the flow of lyricism meets the immense story of a powerful and living tradition (Matthew Shipp, Cecil Taylor obviously: "We beat the keyboard and we penetrate the instrument ... ". 

The three musicians (plus one, and not the least: Jean-Luc Cappozzo!) have very precisely placed this recording under the call of the "duende" and Federico Garcia Lorca. They could have in parallel invoked Maurice Ravel who said about his Bolero: "I did exactly what I wanted to do, and for the listeners, take it or leave it !". 

In these musical times leading frequently to an apotheosis of the insignificant, the space of freedom offered with such determination and so much investment by Cécile Cappozzo, Patrice Grente, Etienne Ziemniak and their guest open spontaneously towards territories of sound with a radiant freshness. - Bernard Aimé

Cécile Cappozzo, piano

Patrice Grente, double bass

Etienne Ziemniak, drums

+ 

Jean-Luc Cappozzo, trumpet on #5

1.Chaos - Fragment 1 09:31

2.Chaos - Fragment 2 06:55

3.Chaos - Fragment 3 09:27

4.Chaos - Fragment 4 11:45

5.Sub rosa 07:24

6.Chaos (complete) 37:40

Recorded May 2018 at Gaël Mevel's "la Maison en Bois", 

Abbéville-la-Rivière, France

Joëlle Léandre & Marc Ducret - Chez Hélène (AYLER RECORDS 2018)

Marc Ducret, electric guitar

Joëlle Léandre, double bass

1. Observation 14:41

2. Ponctuation 07:57

3. Vibration 10:10

4. Invocation 10:51

Recorded live by Jean-Marc Foussat on May 13, 2018

at "19PaulFort", Paris, France

Produced by Stéphane Berland

David Chevallier & Valentin Ceccaldi - Zèbres (AYLER RECORDS 2018)

The gathering of two open-minded instrumentists, a generation apart from one another. A second encounter made possible by the label, after having heard a first 'on-the-fly' recording, this one recorded over a full day and lovingly edited so you get the most of these two great musicians' improvised "fireworks". 

Ignoring any dogmatism, Valentin Ceccaldi and David Chevallier create ephemeral, unclassifiable musical pieces, sometimes rough, sometimes silky. Their imagination feeds on so many soundscapes that it can not be limited to a single style.

Valentin Ceccaldi, cello

David Chevallier, electric guitar, 6 & 12-stringed acoustic guitars

1. NOIR 03:56

2. OIRN 03:38

3. IRNO 07:58

4. BLANC 13:01

5. LANCB 06:06

6. ANCBL 10:29

7. NCBLA 08:02

Recorded by Benjamin Duboc on October 6, 2017

at Théâtre "Le Grand T", Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France

Mixed and mastered by Maïkôl Seminatore at The Border Studio

Produced by David Chevallier & Stéphane Berland

Cover artwork by Bénédicte Gallois

Christophe Monniot - Jericho Sinfonia (AYLER RECORDS May 14, 2018)

This recording is a real novelty. Not only chronologically. This is a novelty in the purest sense, in the sense of a genuine rarity. Here Christophe Monniot tries and succeeds in what has been little attempted in recent years in the world of jazz. What does this singularity consist of? We can mention three aspects that characterize it: a concept album, very rich materials and the spiritual dimension.

Inspired by an inner necessity, Christophe Monniot and his collaborators have elaborated a very personal music, even revolutionary, and as such disturbing. It is a music that resists its own reification, it refuses to be an object and presents itself to us as a subject. It engages in an interaction, it solicits an answer and constitutes, by this personal challenge and this respect of the listener, a prophetic and essential voice in jazz today. (from Michel Petrossian’s liner notes)

1. Veni Veni Emmanuel

2. Pré-Hymne

3. Hymne 1 - Fil Rouge

4. Paix Nombres

5. Hymne 2 - Fil Rouge 2

6. Sonne, Heure !

7. Hymne 3

8. Fil Rouge 3

9. Ultime Atome

10. Dans Cité

Christophe Monniot, sopranino & alto saxophones, composition

Sylvie Gasteau, sound design & libretto

Roberto Negro, piano

Valentin Ceccaldi, cello, electric fretless bass, percussion

Adrien Chennebault, drums

Florian Satche, drums, percussion

Guillaume Aknine, electric guitar

Quentin Biardeau, soprano & tenor saxophones

Gabriel Lemaire, alto & barytone saxophones

Jean-Baptiste Lacou, trombone

Alexis Persigan, trombone

Yoann Loustalot, trumpet, cornet

Alan Regardin, trumpet

Recorded at "La Fabrique", Meung-sur-Loire, France.

December 27-30, 2015. Produced by Christophe Monniot.

Recording, mix and mastering by Matthieu Pion.

Cover artwork: Stéphane Berland.

Peter Bruun's All Too Human - Vernacular Avant​-​garde (AYLER RECORDS March 10, 2018)

‘Less is more’ is a well-known saying. It’s an oxymoron because of its paradoxical nature. Paradoxes take us beyond ingrained patterns of perception, reasoning and action. That’s what is in the expression as coined by the old Greek. 

This newly formed unit’s music is simple without being simple. It sounds vaguely familiar and strange at the same time. It resembles a lot known and nothing known. It has a fairy tale quality and as we know, in fairy tales lots of wondrous things can happen.

Drummer Peter Bruun from Copenhagen has been aware through his musical career of the creative potential and power lurking in paradoxical manoeuvres. In this new unit he has gathered three like-minded musical fellows under the 'All Too Human' flag.

Through the years he undertook a lot of terra incognita expeditions with pianist Simon Toldam, guitarist Marc Ducret and trumpeter Kasper Tranberg. It connected and connects them on deeper levels in their musical interaction.

1. Follow Me 05:45

2. All Too Human

3. Vernacular Avant-garde 07:37

4. Sunshine Superman

5. Extended Mind

6. Is That So Sir Names? 07:20

Kasper Tranberg, trumpet, cornet 

Marc Ducret, guitars (6 & 12-stringed) 

Simon Toldam, moog, juno 60, philicorda 

Peter Bruun, drums, mikrokorg

Recorded in Copenhagen at The Village Studio, April 2017.

All compositions written and produced by Peter Bruun,

except #6 by Peter Bruun and Petter Eldh.

Cover artwork by Stéphane Berland.