This post is by Dan
Recorded October 1 and 2, 1981
I can normally articulate reasons for my favorite selections rather easily. However, I find myself searching for a way to explain my choice of Musique Pour 8: L'Oc. It is a difficult album to describe, and the liner notes don't help very much. Jaume himself describes his aim: "A desire to write, to stage sounds to mix tonalities, a desire to provoke consonances, a desire to articulate dissonances." Critic Philippe Carles adds: "Difficult to place, impossible to situate on the musical landscape, for like most of the peak moments in jazz, it is based on a series of baroque collages of sound blends and confrontations between instruments." (Translations from French). Hmm.
Ultimately, I decided not to worry about analyzing this album in the usual way because it is sui generis and conforms to few, if any, conventional criteria for excellence. It sounds both lofty in conception, with its bows toward the baroque, and chaotic in delivery. The eight musicians are certainly technically proficient on their respective instruments, and the leader is distinguished and experienced in music much closer to traditional jazz forms. The basic listening experience is one of surprise and delight over how the various "consonances and dissonances" are resolved. There's nothing here that will frighten the horses, just plenty of sonic puzzles to enjoy.
The production is first rate, as one expects from the Swiss hat ART label. The original album art (above) is more appealing to me than the CD reissue, but the digital rendering is clear and detailed. Neither cover helps to "explain" what you hear, which simply demonstrates the futility of matching visual images to indescribable music.
No comments:
Post a Comment