Leroux, Sylvain – “Quatuor Creole” – [Engine Studios]

A Quebecois and his quartet…operating in a jazz space

neighboring Kahil El’Zabar’s rituals and rhythms. As

El’Zabar often had the mighty Malachi Favors, Leroux

often rests his composition on the sturdy backbone of

Matt Pavolka’s bass. Check out his playing on “Notis”

balanced by smooth conga shuffling by Sergo Decius. Leroux

is an interesting cat, drawing inspiration from Thelonoius

(“Monk in Paradise”) and the Fulani people of West

Africa. Evidently Leroux went to Gambia and studied

the Fule. That flute adds a hint of raspiness to

this album, check out “La Message” where Leroux also

gasps out falsetto phrases between the notes. Excellent!

Other highlights are the opening and closing tracks

where Leroux works a strung-gourd called the Dozon

Ngoni getting a great buzz and bounce that the band

amplifies. They create a feeling of buoyant clairvoyance.

Tellingly, on those tracks Karl Berger bypasses the

piano to tinkle in vibes. “Fantancolo” offers similar

serenity. “Fantaisie Creole” is an old school “mash-up”

not mp3 melding, but the quartet taking two recipes

stirred into one gumbo. It is the one track cracking

10 minutes, and clearly has the most evolution going on

it. KFJC often hits a lot of “exorcist jazz” (and I dig

the fire music) but this release is all about the cool.

Pace, playing and instrumentation flow gentle as a river

in the afternoon sun.

Thurston Hunger

Reviewed by Thurston Hunger on July 25, 2012 at 5:16 pm

Filed as CD,Jazz