Manu Katche Unstatic

The material on “Unstatic” is comprised of eleven originals written by the leader, all of them played in what has now become familiar as the ‘Manu Katche style’. Katche’s way with a groove and ear for a good tune remain undimmed and the core group sound is expanded by the presence of guest trombonist Nils Landgren who appears on five tracks. Landgren features on the opening track, simply titled “Introduccion”, a seductive rhumba that finds Katche working in harness with no fewer than three guest percussionists in the shapes of Abraham Rodriguez Mansfarroll, Joel Hiereezuelo Balart and Esteben Sotolongo Zapata. Landgren makes a significant contribution on trombone alongside Watson on acoustic piano.

Contemporary jazz that anyone could like, characterised by strong yet open themes, unshowy brilliance and an overall mood of soulfulness and sensitivity. For his third album, French/African drummer Katché has assembled an unusual but effective cast of musicians, with Tore Brunborg on sax, Jason Rebello on piano and Pino Palladino on bass. Guitarist Jacob Young plays on three of the 11 tracks and there's a cameo by Kami Lyle, whose strangulated voice grows on you. Definitely one of the albums of the year. (Source: independent.co.uk)

A specially-price limited edition compilation of Manu Katché on ECM. Here the French drummer is joined in performances of his tunes by an outstanding cast of soloists including Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko, Nils Petter Molvӕr, Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Marcin Wasilewski, Tore Brunborg, and Jacob Young. Recorded 2004 -2012 in Oslo, New York and Pernes-les-Fontaines, and drawn from his widely acclaimed albums: Neighborhood (ECM1896), Playground (ECM 2016), Third Round (ECM 2156), Manu Katché (ECM 2284)

For his fourth ECM album, titled just “Manu Katché”, the great French-Ivorian drummer reshuffles the line-up of his band once more, and presents a new programme of compact, self-penned tunes. The revolving door policy is part of Katché’s songwriting concept: “If you write all your own music, you’re aware of your limitations. It helps to have a changing cast of musicians, because they naturally bring in things you wouldn’t have expected. It’s really been the idea since the first album [2004’s “Neighbourhood”] to keep on changing the band.” Choices of musicians have usually been inspired by meetings and encounters. “I’ll get to play with someone and then try to have his style, or at least the essence of his style, in mind when I write the music at the piano.”