A Simple Fall is both personal testimony and shared meditation. It reminds us that music can bear silence as gracefully as it bears sound.

Courtois, who has collaborated with the likes of Rita Mitsouko, Christian Escoudé, Michel Petrucciani or even Michel Portal, is no stranger to the BMC catalogue. His tone, equally capable of lyricism and restraint finds a remarkable counterpart in Vallon's unique sense of portion when it comes to piano. Vallon, an internationally celebrated soloist known by his releases over ECM Records, is renowned for a touch that balances fragility and quiet intensity, shaping silence as much as sound.
' The album where Lieder without words alternate with improvisations of boundless creativity, evokes sometimes the expressivity of Othmar Schoeck, sometimes the anarchy of John Cage. It extends, rekindles and transposes the long, prestigious tradition of works for piano and cello, extremely rare in the jazz scene, but abundant in the history of classical music. By multiplying techniques and preparations, Courtois and Vallon have managed to give this intimate line-up a totally original orchestral dimension, the piano sometimes changing into a glass harp, sometimes into a music box, into a yangqin, or into a viola da gamba, and the cello likewise acting as a percussion instrument, harmony instrument, and melody instrument. A genuine bridge between classical music, experimental music, and jazz, this album is one of those rare kaleidoscopic works that, through the skilful combination of rudimentary elements, make it possible to imagine the infinite.' - Michaël Roelli

Track Listing

• Descent
• BMC
• A Simple Fall
• Bariolages
• Virages
• Fade
• Sans retour
• Floricel
• Agitato
• Wait
• Done and Done
• Lament

Additional Details

Label: BMC Records

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 48:51 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 12/12/25

UPC: 5998309303586