IN Other Words

A colorfully illustrated collection of more than ninety untranslatable words and phrases and the unique insights they offer into the cultures they come from.

Marc Berthoumieux is a French composer and jazz accordionist. He performs with his own band and with artists like Didier Lockwood, Charles Aznavour, Harry Belafonte, Gilbert Becaud, Georges Moustaki, Youn Sun Nah and many others. He recorded his album "In Other Words" with Giovanni Mirabassi, Henri Texier and Andre Ceccarelli. "In Other Words" his personal and convincing reading of jazz standards ("Have You Heard?", "Looking Up" by Michel Petrucciani), pop (Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Elton John's "Your Song"), soul ("Love's In Need Of Love" by Stevie Wonder) and soundtracks ("La Scoumoune" and "Les Choses de la vie").

Teodross Avery, a few days shy of turning 21 at the time of his GRP release, sounds quite mature on his debut as a leader. His tenor tone is attractive, his style is very influenced by Joe Henderson and John Coltrane and he is surprisingly relaxed on the ballads. Avery contributed nine of the 11 selections (all but "What's New" and Wayne Shorter's "Edda"). Three of the songs find trumpeter Roy Hargrove making the group a quintet. The music is very much in the hard bop vein and nothing too innovative or unexpected occurs, but this is an impressive initial effort from Teodross Avery who will hopefully have a long and productive career.

This is the 5th recording (the first on Songlines) by Montreal percussionist Gossage’s Other Voices. The group, which he started in 1998 as a vehicle for his compositions, has evolved into one where creation in the moment completes the compositional process. Gossage takes a sculptor’s approach to sound, inspiring his musicians to carve out forms and concepts through structured group improvisations which demonstrate their quick yet thoughtful responses. Combine Braxton’s love of abstruse counterpoint and borderline atonality with Varese’s manner of animating blocks of sound, throw in a wry sense of humor, inject just a dash of chaos – and you get an experimental jazz record that is attractively varied as well as engaging on deeper levels.

When ideas fail, words come in handy. But sometimes you can't find the right word, and what you want to say can't be found in the dictionary. English has its limitations, but the expression you're searching for may exist in another language. "In Other Words "is a unique collection of well-known and absolutely obscure "untranslatables"-linguistic gems that convey a feeling or notion with satisfying precision yet resist simple translation.

In Other Words is a lively, charming, gossipy memoir of life in the publishing trenches and how one restlessly curious young woman sparked a creative awakening in a new country she chose to call home.