BENJAMIN MOUSSAY - Promontoire
ECM 087 2877
Benjamin Moussay (piano)
Recorded January & August 2019
This is quite an extraordinary album from pianist, Benjamin Moussay and reveals a complex and incisive musical mind who is able to pair his music down down to the essentials and yet still convey meaning, passion and more importantly, himself. If you are reading this and scratching your head trying to remember where you have come across Moussay's name before, he is the current pianist with Louis Sclavis having appeared on three of the clarinettist's albums, Sources (2012), Silk And Salt Melodies (2014) and more recently on last year's Characters On A Wall.
Like many before him, Moussay has waited from some time before recording a solo piano set. Apart from his work with Sclavis he leads his own long-standing Trio with bassist Arnault Cuisinier and drummer, Eric Echampard, but the lure of the solo recording could no longer be resisted. The music is far ranging and tells us much about Moussay's interests and life, both in and outside of music. The beautiful opening '127' is inspired by the incredible survival story of climber, Aron Ralston as depicted in the film '127 Hours'. An enthuastic climber and Alpinist himself, the pianist makes furher references to his passion in the equally lyrical title track, 'Promontoire', which Moussay says is named for “a place in the Vosges mountains that is very important to me, a small rocky peak above a lake." Retaining the climbing theme, 'Don't Look Down' is likened to scaling a steep rock face, while 'Monte Perdo' is one of several pieces that are completely improvised. A sparse, impressionistic and foreboding piece depicting a a lost mountain of the Pyrennees that is difficult to reach.
Moussay also makes references to his forays into the world of silent movies where he has received commissions to write new music to accompany the films. Taking his scores written for scenes from Jean Renoir's 1926 film Nana, based upon the novel by Émile Zola. 'The Fallen' with its stark and stoic lines could be used to describe all who have fallen, with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel for thos strong enough to rise again, and the emotive and descriptive narrative of 'Theme For Nana'.
Whether intentional or not, some of the most revealing music comes from the pianist's own life and experiences. His touch and and expressive feel at the keyboard reveal much in the delicacy of 'Villefranque' which Moussay says came to him complete when recording himself playing, and the transcription of the improvisation became the finished piece. The album is full of these illuminating compositions, 'Sotto Voce' revels in his claasical beginnings and the closing 'Théa' a spontaneously improvised piece, a musical portrait of his young daughter, and the first piece recorded at the Studios La Buissonne in January 2019.
Promontoire is an important addition to the series of solo piano recordings from ECM, and hopefully the beginning of a long and fruitful association for Banjamin Moussay to present more of his highly personal and enjoyable music.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 087 2877
Benjamin Moussay (piano)
Recorded January & August 2019
This is quite an extraordinary album from pianist, Benjamin Moussay and reveals a complex and incisive musical mind who is able to pair his music down down to the essentials and yet still convey meaning, passion and more importantly, himself. If you are reading this and scratching your head trying to remember where you have come across Moussay's name before, he is the current pianist with Louis Sclavis having appeared on three of the clarinettist's albums, Sources (2012), Silk And Salt Melodies (2014) and more recently on last year's Characters On A Wall.
Like many before him, Moussay has waited from some time before recording a solo piano set. Apart from his work with Sclavis he leads his own long-standing Trio with bassist Arnault Cuisinier and drummer, Eric Echampard, but the lure of the solo recording could no longer be resisted. The music is far ranging and tells us much about Moussay's interests and life, both in and outside of music. The beautiful opening '127' is inspired by the incredible survival story of climber, Aron Ralston as depicted in the film '127 Hours'. An enthuastic climber and Alpinist himself, the pianist makes furher references to his passion in the equally lyrical title track, 'Promontoire', which Moussay says is named for “a place in the Vosges mountains that is very important to me, a small rocky peak above a lake." Retaining the climbing theme, 'Don't Look Down' is likened to scaling a steep rock face, while 'Monte Perdo' is one of several pieces that are completely improvised. A sparse, impressionistic and foreboding piece depicting a a lost mountain of the Pyrennees that is difficult to reach.
Moussay also makes references to his forays into the world of silent movies where he has received commissions to write new music to accompany the films. Taking his scores written for scenes from Jean Renoir's 1926 film Nana, based upon the novel by Émile Zola. 'The Fallen' with its stark and stoic lines could be used to describe all who have fallen, with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel for thos strong enough to rise again, and the emotive and descriptive narrative of 'Theme For Nana'.
Whether intentional or not, some of the most revealing music comes from the pianist's own life and experiences. His touch and and expressive feel at the keyboard reveal much in the delicacy of 'Villefranque' which Moussay says came to him complete when recording himself playing, and the transcription of the improvisation became the finished piece. The album is full of these illuminating compositions, 'Sotto Voce' revels in his claasical beginnings and the closing 'Théa' a spontaneously improvised piece, a musical portrait of his young daughter, and the first piece recorded at the Studios La Buissonne in January 2019.
Promontoire is an important addition to the series of solo piano recordings from ECM, and hopefully the beginning of a long and fruitful association for Banjamin Moussay to present more of his highly personal and enjoyable music.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
