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Francois Carrier - Travelling Lights
Francois Carrier - Travelling Lights
Justin Time JUST 203-2
Francois Carrier (as, ss); Paul Bley (p);
Gary Peacock (b); Michel Lambert (d)
recorded June 29, 2003
1. Americas 7:42
2. Asia 7:27
3. Oceania 11:16
4. Antarctica 6:53
5. Europe 14:17
6. Africa 7:19
7. Sea 2:15
8. Island 7:59
Total 65:31
Prior to hearing this CD, Francois Carrier was unknown to me. Bley and Peacock were the draw, and even before hearing it my anticipations were colored by the similarity with Surman's Adventure Playground, where Bley and Peacock joined John Surman and Tony Oxley.
The differences with that hopefully familiar recording are a good starting point for talking about this one. To begin with, the sound of this recording is drier and more natural than the wet, cavernous ECM sound of Adventure Playground. This may seem tangential to the music, but in fact it reflects its denser, more percussive nature. Second, this is truly free: the CD sleeve indicates that "All the music is improvised." (Though composer credits are given to one musician for each song.)
Carrier and Lambert are in mighty company with the two old masters. In such a situation, one discovers what one is made of, particularly in a fully improvised setting. I admit I went into this recording evaluating their performances in this respect. That didn't last long, though: I found this CD to be thoroughly absorbing, with everyone pulling their weight. Lambert doesn't have quite the dominating personality and quirky brilliance of Oxley, but he is resourceful and his contribution to the music is on par with the rest of the group. In fact, the four sound like they had played together for some time - relaxed and uninhibited.
The music is simply fascinating. The title reflects the peripatetic nature of the music, in which ideas bubble up, transform, and disappear to be supplanted by others. Carrier at times develops lines with shifting logic, finding something in a transformation which leads somewhere else entirely, and thus the listener is teased with melodic possibilities. Elsewhere, his contribution is a sonic exploration, with percussive interjections, microtonal melisma, and in general a welcome tonal variety. Bley is inside the piano case from the get-go, and over the course of the recording demonstrates his hallmark virtuosity, playing dense, parallel two-handed figures, ruminative and almost romantic melodies reminiscent of an ECM piano trio, emphatic muted bass notes sounding like spikes being driven into railroad ties. His playing exudes a casual genius, like a fireplace chat with Isaiah Berlin.
I've appreciated this recording more each time I've listened to it. Moments of beautiful serendipity abound, and the players listen and respond, meeting and parting in delightful ways.
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