Search - Martial Solal :: Longitude

Frenetic Free French Trio

Scott Williams | Oakland, CA United States | 09/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Overview:

As former collaborator Dave Douglas points out in the liner notes, Martial Solal is a "fearless improviser". These words are a perfect description for Solal's often chaotic and frenzied, two-handed style of soloing. Martial can stop on a dime and make a change for a dollar. As ideas burst into Solal's head he switches, tempo, mood, texture, etc to take each song off on a new direction on whim. The truly amazing thing is that the Moutin twins (Francios on bass, Louis on drums) are with him every step of the way. It's fantastic to see Solal tear off in the blink of an eye in a new direction and to hear Francois connecting the dots on bass and Louis adding in accents on a cymbal. I guess this is what you get when you play together for 15 years as this trio has done. While stellar in so many ways, perhaps the one knock against this album is that the constant improvisations and explorations in every which direction leave the listener struggling to "find the song". There isn't must lyricism, or traditional song writing here. This is not your typical jazz trio. That said, Solal's style is unquestionably unique and a joy to listen to if your willing to forgo the traditional sense of a song and just enjoy the creativity and the twists in turns of the music.



Song Highlights:

Short Cuts - This opens with some sort repetitive blurbs with all three musicians locked into each other. Francois Moutin is very active on this track and is perhaps Solal's equal on this stop and start affair. With about 1 minute to go Francois busts into this funky riff that just comes out of nowhere.



Monostome - I think this track has the most balance out of all the tracks. It has more song structure than the rest of the tracks. The middle section has a nice traditional walking bass line (albeit at a breakneck speed). It features drummer Louis Mouton more so than the other tracks.



Slightly Bluesy - I think this is the catchiest track on the CD. Solal is just on fire and it really sets the pace for everything that's to come on the CD. Also there is a monster bass solo by Francois.



Bizarre, Vous Avez Dit? - Nice Bass Bowing by Francois on this one. Also some "Bizzare" percussion effects too. Somehow, it almost sounds like traditional Japensese or Classical music at times.



Fans of the piano, bass, drums piano format should pick this one up. If you are an avante garde piano, bass, drums trio fan, get out to the store now and get this right away.

"

EXCELLENT!

George Brett | San Francisco, CA USA | 08/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great disc. In my opinion (for whatever it's worth - ha!), one of the best discs I've heard all year.



Not really for the casual listener as you can probably tell from the samples...but at the same time, exciting and fun...it definitely reaches into the free jazz realm.



I've never heard the Moutin brothers stretch out like this, but I'm oh, so glad they did. I knew they had it in them, as they are amazing musicians, but this is over the top!



Great stuff."