DOMINIQUE PIFARÉLY - Tracé Provisoire
ECM 478 1796
Dominique Pifarély: violin; Antonin Rayon: piano; Bruno Chevillon: double bass; François Merville: drums
Recorded July, 2015 Studios La Bussoine, Pernes-les-Fontaines.
French violinist Dominique Pifarély formed his quartet consisting of pianist Antonin Rayon, bassist Bruno Chevillon, and drummer François Merville in 2014, although Pifarély, Chevillon and Merville have played together in many groups since the 1980’s. Their new release “Tracé Provisoire” demonstrates a penchant for blending idioms unpredictably, and the lines between written material and improvisation are frequently crossed in exciting ways. In addition to the quartet, producer Manfred Eicher functions as he always has as an invisible member of the ensemble by crafting a wonderfully sequenced album that introduces themes in concise units, expanded upon throughout the album elongating the imperceptible line of composition and improvisation.
The album’s eight pieces include three two part suites of sorts, broken up across the entire album which introduces listeners to intriguing material that is expanded upon, in a variety of styles. “La Peuple Efface, Pt 1” (The Erased People) opens with slow probing improvisation from the ensemble conjuring a mental image of perhaps the natural world just springing to life at dawn. Pifarély’s extended techniques of harmonics, are filled out by Chevillon’s fleeting pizzicato statements in between the spaces, while Rayon hints at the driving unison that he and Chevillon form that eventually becomes the tune’s melody. By the time the second part of the suite emerges as the third track, the driving unison is the basis of a heated dual solo from the violinist and pianist, their lines intertwining underneath a bed of busy rhythmic activity. Pifarély’s yearning lines on the title track evoke a new music composition before exploding without warning into a blazing odd metered jazz-rock-ish workout, with a melting solo. The moodiness returns in the second half of the suite as a lyrical tone poem, Rayon occasionally spiraling into jagged segments of lines, and the odd metered ostinato spurs Merville on in a brief solo. “Vague” is marked by Pifarély’s use of harmonics that at times sounds like a distorted guitar, and Chevillon’s ominous G drone is later stated by Pifarély in a mercurial soundscape. “Le Regard de Lenz” outside of Rayon’s opening angular improvisation with striking use of independence between left and right hands is the closest the recording comes to referencing the jazz tradition though obliquely. Merville swinging in waltz time during it’s choppy melody, then abstracting it with bumpy rubato rhythms, his brushwork is a highlight as well.
“Tracé Provisoire” is terrific in it’s mix of composed, avant garde and jazz elements. The music constantly shifts shape and adventurous listeners will be thrilled by the unknown territories each piece travels over the course of 63 minutes. A quartet of uncommon invention, the fearlessness of exploration carries with it the feel of an inspired live gig in a studio setting.
Reviewed by CJ Shearn
ECM 478 1796
Dominique Pifarély: violin; Antonin Rayon: piano; Bruno Chevillon: double bass; François Merville: drums
Recorded July, 2015 Studios La Bussoine, Pernes-les-Fontaines.
French violinist Dominique Pifarély formed his quartet consisting of pianist Antonin Rayon, bassist Bruno Chevillon, and drummer François Merville in 2014, although Pifarély, Chevillon and Merville have played together in many groups since the 1980’s. Their new release “Tracé Provisoire” demonstrates a penchant for blending idioms unpredictably, and the lines between written material and improvisation are frequently crossed in exciting ways. In addition to the quartet, producer Manfred Eicher functions as he always has as an invisible member of the ensemble by crafting a wonderfully sequenced album that introduces themes in concise units, expanded upon throughout the album elongating the imperceptible line of composition and improvisation.
The album’s eight pieces include three two part suites of sorts, broken up across the entire album which introduces listeners to intriguing material that is expanded upon, in a variety of styles. “La Peuple Efface, Pt 1” (The Erased People) opens with slow probing improvisation from the ensemble conjuring a mental image of perhaps the natural world just springing to life at dawn. Pifarély’s extended techniques of harmonics, are filled out by Chevillon’s fleeting pizzicato statements in between the spaces, while Rayon hints at the driving unison that he and Chevillon form that eventually becomes the tune’s melody. By the time the second part of the suite emerges as the third track, the driving unison is the basis of a heated dual solo from the violinist and pianist, their lines intertwining underneath a bed of busy rhythmic activity. Pifarély’s yearning lines on the title track evoke a new music composition before exploding without warning into a blazing odd metered jazz-rock-ish workout, with a melting solo. The moodiness returns in the second half of the suite as a lyrical tone poem, Rayon occasionally spiraling into jagged segments of lines, and the odd metered ostinato spurs Merville on in a brief solo. “Vague” is marked by Pifarély’s use of harmonics that at times sounds like a distorted guitar, and Chevillon’s ominous G drone is later stated by Pifarély in a mercurial soundscape. “Le Regard de Lenz” outside of Rayon’s opening angular improvisation with striking use of independence between left and right hands is the closest the recording comes to referencing the jazz tradition though obliquely. Merville swinging in waltz time during it’s choppy melody, then abstracting it with bumpy rubato rhythms, his brushwork is a highlight as well.
“Tracé Provisoire” is terrific in it’s mix of composed, avant garde and jazz elements. The music constantly shifts shape and adventurous listeners will be thrilled by the unknown territories each piece travels over the course of 63 minutes. A quartet of uncommon invention, the fearlessness of exploration carries with it the feel of an inspired live gig in a studio setting.
Reviewed by CJ Shearn
