Dossier 51

French avant garde jazzman Michel Godard is one of the world's leading players of the serpent, a Renaissance wind instrument, ancestor of the tuba and which was first used to accompany Gregorian chant. The instrument's connection to the sacred is wonderfully rendered on his latest album Awakening recorded with Azerbaijan's Alim Qasimov.

Gravitational Waves is a dating story. The pianist Bruno Ruder and the saxophonist Rémi Dumoulin know each other for a long time and have very early maintained more than friendly relations (Bruno Ruder calls Rémi Dumoulin his brother). When the idea of starting a group together germinated, the choice of the drummer was quickly stopped, so great was the desire to rework with the legendary Billy Hart . There is also little suspense about the rest of the cast: Aymeric Avice (Radiation 10, Jean Louis, Circum Grand Orchestra) and Guido Zorn (Rockingchair, Pierre Durand Roots 4tet), two musicians among their favorites. Ruder and Dumoulin share voluntarily very open compositions (sinuous and fragile for the pianist, more direct for the saxophonist). The decision is to leave the maximum space to the American drummer so that it colors the score as it sees fit.

In 1999, a year after recording the splendid reunion album Not Two, Not One, Paul Bley’s highly innovative trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian took to the road with concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. When Will The Blues Leave documents a terrific performance at the Aula Magna di Trevano in Switzerland. Included here, alongside the angular freebop Ornette Coleman title track, are Paul Bley’s “Mazatlan”, brimming over with energy, Gary Peacock’s evergreen “Moor”, Gershwin’s tender “I Loves You Porgy” and much more. All played with the subtlety of master improvisers, recasting the music in every moment.

This heat: Bokanté and the Metropole Orkest, together. Two internationally acclaimed outfits made up of players at the top of their games. Music doesn’t get any hotter, or more accomplished, than this.

In 2014, Andres de Jerez and Samuelito met at a Flamenco Festival: from this meeting is born a common project: to make a flamenco puro record , that of the emotion like the cante of Andrés, that of the freshness like the toque of Samuelito, passionate since childhood by the flamenco guitar. This disc is much more than a musical performance, it is an artistic and singular result.