FRANÇOIS HOULE & SAMO SALAMON - Unobservable Mysteries
Self-release
Available from Bandcamp
François Houle: clarinet; Samo Salamon: 6 string and 12 string guitars
This ‘duet’ was recorded by Salamon in Slovenia and Houle in Vancouver, with Houle mixing the final master. Producing transatlantic music at a distance is, of course, partly a response to the restrictions of covid-19 and partly the opportunity offered by modern communications. More to the point, the music sounds as if both players are in the room together, welcoming you to enjoy their collaboration and the sense of pleasure they take in each other’s company. The combination of clarinet and guitar, I guess, might threaten to shift into delicate Chanson or, perhaps, a sort of café music that idles in the background. Fortunately, that is never the case here. Both Houle and Salamon have long been interested in using their instruments to the fullest potentials, seeking the widest range of sounds that can be obtained from these. Playing without electronic effects or gadgetry, in their purest acoustic modes, both musicians have the uncanny ability to make themselves sound like collections of players with various instruments; combining these into a single recording produces the effect of trios, quartets and more. The improvised tunes undulate like, to quote track 10, ‘The wanderings of water’, but do so with a clear sense of purpose that introduces and develops themes that are picked up and examined. There is a lightness in the ways that these excellent musicians inhabit the mastery of their instruments, leaving this listener in awe of the ways in which the music builds and envelopes without staying too long on one idea but continually seeking a new position or feeling.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Self-release
Available from Bandcamp
François Houle: clarinet; Samo Salamon: 6 string and 12 string guitars
This ‘duet’ was recorded by Salamon in Slovenia and Houle in Vancouver, with Houle mixing the final master. Producing transatlantic music at a distance is, of course, partly a response to the restrictions of covid-19 and partly the opportunity offered by modern communications. More to the point, the music sounds as if both players are in the room together, welcoming you to enjoy their collaboration and the sense of pleasure they take in each other’s company. The combination of clarinet and guitar, I guess, might threaten to shift into delicate Chanson or, perhaps, a sort of café music that idles in the background. Fortunately, that is never the case here. Both Houle and Salamon have long been interested in using their instruments to the fullest potentials, seeking the widest range of sounds that can be obtained from these. Playing without electronic effects or gadgetry, in their purest acoustic modes, both musicians have the uncanny ability to make themselves sound like collections of players with various instruments; combining these into a single recording produces the effect of trios, quartets and more. The improvised tunes undulate like, to quote track 10, ‘The wanderings of water’, but do so with a clear sense of purpose that introduces and develops themes that are picked up and examined. There is a lightness in the ways that these excellent musicians inhabit the mastery of their instruments, leaving this listener in awe of the ways in which the music builds and envelopes without staying too long on one idea but continually seeking a new position or feeling.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
