Delbecq's 5th Songlines release, featuring an international quintet, is intriguing, evocative and palpably elegant.

Counting among his inspirations Cowell, Cage, Ligeti, Aka pygmy song, Balkan dance, Abdullah Ibrahim, Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, Miles, Monk, Ornette, and colleagues such as Steve Argüelles, Marc Ducret and the deconstructionist poet Olivier Cadiot, Delbecq has developed an unmistakable yet richly varied musical idiom. Intellectually intriguing, emotionally evocative, palpably elegant, the fifth Songlines release by this 'avatar of prepared piano' (Bill Shoemaker) presents an artist at the height of his imaginative and synthesizing powers.

The idea for the band involved some educated hunches: Says Delbecq, 'I wanted to provoke an encounter between musicians I knew from different scenes, Europe meets North America meets Africa [Emile Biayenda is Cameroonian and leads the percussion ensemble Les Tambours de Brazza]. When I started writing I had a sound in mind... a very open but very rhythmic way of playing...and different directions I wanted us to explore collectively. The mixed timbres of tenor and viola were in a sense the key to the group.' Prepared piano is also featured on several tracks: 'I wanted to leave space for the guys to improvise, and accompanying with prepared sounds allows the music to sound very open harmonically, while it places me on a different axis in the rhythmic web. It also allows the mind to escape the piano in some way, and this can lead to rare blends, such as with viola playing pizzicato.'

24 bit recording mixed in analogue to stereo and 5.0 DSD.

Track Listing

• Le même jour
• Multikulta
• Zao Wou-ki
• Pointe de la courte dune
• The Elbow Room, Vancouver
• 4MalW*
• Yompa
• Au Louvre

Additional Details

Label: Songlines

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 54 mins

Release Date: 02/15/05

UPC: 774355155226