Matinier

Friedman’s project, Other Worlds, is a trio with an instrumentation and sound all its own, featuring the exciting French accordianist Jean Louis Matinier and the brilliant American bass virtuoso Anthony Cox. Their new CD Other Worlds, was recorded in November 1996 for Intuition Records and released in December 1997.

Accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier has long been a creative presence on ECM recordings, heard with the groups of Anouar Brahem (on Le pas du chat noir and Le voyage de Sahar), Louis Sclavis (Dans la nuit) and François Couturier (Nostalghia, Tarkovsky Quartet), as well as in duo with Marco Ambrosini (Inventio). Now comes the first documentation of a new endeavour, with guitarist Kevin Seddiki, whose far-reaching musical imagination matches Matinier’s own. Sedikki, who makes his ECM debut here, studied classical guitar with Pablo Márquez and has also worked with many improvisers across the idioms, from jazz to transcultural projects. The range of music addressed on Rivages runs from the traditional “Greensleeves” to Gabriel Fauré’s “Les Berceaux” to compositions and improvisations by both of the protagonists. Rivages was recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in April 2018, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Inventio is an inventive project at all levels, beginning with the instrumentation. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo plays a programme inspired by the baroque sonatas of Bach and Biber but also by the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi. They adapt and arrange works of each of these masters, and contribute compositions of their own. Following a path from ancient to modern music, they improvise together, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special blending of their instruments…

Evoking memories from a simpler time, bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier sing beautiful melodies through their instruments, supplemented by finely structured improvisations. The collaborations of Grappelli and Reinhardt come to mind, but only as influences, as the instant duo uses dramatic rhythmic touches, a more Eastern European feel, perhaps, and a Spanish or Latin influence to create something different. The results are light, to be sure, but never insubstantial. Easy listening characterizes them, too, but not in the popular sense of being simplistic. Rather, the lilting sounds mesmerize gently, a perfect companion for a ride in the country. Both Garcia-Fons and Matinier are comfortable with their instruments, each taking the lead, passing it back, and intertwining as one voice…

Over the past 15 years, Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem has assembled a relatively small but profound body of work. A skilled improviser who refuses to be part of the historical authenticity argument, Brahem works from the same trio setting that performed on Le Pas du Chat Noir in 2002, with pianist François Couturier and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier. The dialogue between these players is, despite the sparseness of the music and the considerable space employed, intense. The deep listening necessary in the improvised sections allows for a natural flow of ideas to emerge from silence. The compositions themselves are skeletal, with repeating, slowly evolving vamps and lyric lines.