L' Affrontement des Prétendants

L' Affrontement des Prétendants Artist: Louis Sclavis
Label: Ecm Records
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 601215992724
EAN: 0601215992724
ASIN: B000056P09


Release Date: 2001-05-22

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Listmania:

  1. Essential (modern) clarinet & bass clarinet music

Tracks:

  1. L'Affrontement Des Pretendants
  2. Distances
  3. Contre Contre
  4. Hors Les Murs
  5. Possibles
  6. Hommage A Lounes Matoub
  7. Le Temps D'Apres
  8. Maputo Introduction
  9. Maputo
  10. La Memoire Des Mains

Similar Items:

  1. Napoli's Walls
  2. Les Violences de Rameau
  3. Change of Heart
  4. Dans la Nuit
  5. Critical Mass

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars one of my best CDs.......2004-05-14

louis sclavis is one of my favorite players. after listening to him on 'double trio - green dolphy suite' i knew i had to get another of his CDs. i chose this one and i made the right choice. he is the best bass clarinet in the world in my opinion, on clarinet he is also amazing, thogh i'm not crazy about his sound. on soprano sax i don't know a better payer than him since coltrane, and i'm not comparing them. the bass, cello, drums and trumpet players here are some of the best i've ever heard.

5 out of 5 stars Hotýreally hot!.......2003-02-07

With this release, Louis Sclavis has jettisoned himself to that uppermost region, that status level where my most favorite artists reside. Much like previous albums ROUGE, ACOUSTIC QUARTET and LES VIOLENCES DE RAMEAU, the musicians on L'AFFRONTEMENT DES PRETENDANTS sound like they possess telepathic powers, and that they have played together for years. The compositions are very strong, very fresh ...very distinctive. When the soloists take off (all of the players here are extremely talented), the free improvisation sticks very closely to the spirit of the composition, and the culmination of each solo is electrifying to say the least. Many of the tunes have an infectious, rhythmic buoyancy; the title cut dances madly with glee. All of the songs have an abundance of character: like the interchange between the winds and strings in "Hommage a Lounes Matoub" after the trumpet solo (8:48 through 9:43), or how the drum beat staggers about in "Maputo" and how the melody makes the whole thing stumble forward quickly and awkwardly, and, I must add, delightfully. One of the most thrilling sections is in "Possibles" at 1:34: the trumpet and bass play a highly syncopated line behind Louis's solo; then at 1:59, Sclavis joins in with the playing of the line--but the result sounds as if he continues with his solo and the background players join him! I could go on forever; the music making throughout the album is simply enthralling.

I guess this would be called avant-garde. (Much like the term "modern," "avant-garde" often doesn't exactly describe what it once did. Rather than meaning daring, experimental or radical, "avant-garde" has come to often define a certain flavor of jazz that has been with us for years and years now.) Fans of such music should love this. Even those who are usually scared off by the unconventionalities of free playing might take to this, the rhythmic gyrations are so infectious. The album is hot--really hot!--and strongly recommended.

Cheers,
Murray

5 out of 5 stars Great album.......2001-12-14

Why write my own review when Thom Jurek of allmusic.com put it so well? Here's what he said (it may sound familiar):

The latest ECM date by clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Louis Sclavis moves astray from his previous concept-oriented albums and toward musical settings that showcase his stunning new quintet. The only remaining member from his last band is bassist Bruno Chevillon. Once again, however, Sclavis gives listeners a puzzle to solve in the title: Who are these confrontational pretenders? Or, does the reference suggest that these very same pretenders are staking a claim to a throne or position of authority? Both cases may be self-referential given the absolute musical muscle on display here.

The title track that opens the disc features a streaming trumpet workout by the all-but-unknown Jean Luc Capozzo. His playing comes from many sources, the most recent of which are Wadada Leo Smith and Lester Bowie, and the influence of African and Arab musical modalities that inform his melodic improvisations. His lyric line is complex, long, and knotty, bringing both harmonic and modal considerations to the fore. Rhythm in this band is also provocative, given that there is no pianist to muck things up. Cellist Vincent Courtois covers a lot of this territory, leaving both Chevillon and drummer Francois Merville to break time, cross it, and stretch by means of interactive methodologies and interpretive interval signatures that may or may not come from Western music. Elsewhere, such as on "Distances," a swinging post-bop melodic phrasing is intercut with Parisian salon music. One can hear the humor of Erik Satie cascading through Sclavis' clarinet solo and the rich, triple-time cowbell beats stuttered by Merville. The music is as perverse as it is virtuosi.

But the true musical marvel that is this quintet is on the mammoth suite "Hommage ý Lounýs Matoub," a tribute to the late Algerian protest singer who was assassinated in 1998. The mournful opening measures are played with heartbreaking grace by Capozzo, and give way to the solo dirge by Courtois, which is tinted with a trace of rage at its fringes. Six minutes in, the rest of the band enters, again led by Capozzo soloing, becoming the slain singer's voice in the heart of the mix. The North African-percussion styles employed by Merville criss-cross and undulate; they seem to imitate frame and raku drums. The tempo and mood pick up about ten minutes in, and here the ensemble moves through complex harmonic and modal territory, leaving their previously flexible style for a manner of playing that hints at transcendence and even victory, a musical space that suggests that memory is what triumphs because it carries on where a person cannot.

This is a jazz group that moves from Coltrane-like intensity (Sclavis' soprano solo in the "Hommage" quotes "India" in three places and Steve Lacy's "Blinks" in two others) to a musical expressionism that echoes both Boulez and Messiaen. Finally, there is the presence of Africa that looms so heavily in Sclavis' musical heart, due to the amount of time he spends there, that it cannot help but be expressed alongside the other music. These West African melodies that at first come in hints and phrases assert themselves in tonal capacities as well as in solos. In sum, it is as a quintet this band plays, as a musical unit that is seasoned and confident and in full possession of its strengths and musical empathies. So democratic and accomplished is this band that it sounds as if it has no leader, but only music to play.

4 out of 5 stars High energy, fresh sound, great playing, and NEW.......2001-06-17

I bought this CD never having heard Louis Sclavis, strictly on my confidence in ECM's renaissance of great music of the past few years and the recommendation of a friend. It's a fantastic record that sounds fresh but reveals some interesting and unexpected influences. If you're up for an adventure give this a try.

4 out of 5 stars A step outside the main stream.......2001-06-05

This is definately ensemble jazz at its best. The instrumentation is not your standard jazz lineup (cello and double bass and an alternating round of brass with some marvelous clarinet) and there is a slightly formal element in the compositions. All of which makes the sections of free blowing and interplay that much more interesting. Laid back chamber jazz? NO WAY! Complex and dynamic with energy to spare.

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  10. Emigré ~ Ted Reichman

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