| Can you imagine a music born from the crossed influences of Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Warne Marsh, Black Sabbath, Rage Against the Machine, PJ Harvey, Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen? No? Well, that's what Swiss tenor saxophonist Nicolas Masson offer us with his project Parallels: open jazz informed by European free improvisation, with the energy of rock, the compositional sophistication of contemporary music and the suggestive melodic characteristics of pop. Call it post-modern if you want, but truth is Masson doesn't use the word: he prefers to speak about his passion for music, regardless of style. After taking his flag to New York, where he first studied with Frank Lowe and Makanda Ken McIntire, then later with Rich Perry and Chris Potter, Masson became noticed playing with the likes of Russ Johnson, Eivind Opsvik, Gerald Cleaver, Ohad Talmor and Ted Poor: Here is another mountain climbing of this unique horn player who mixes intelligence and humor, melody and drive, this time with an all Swiss band. And what a band: coming from partnerships with Kurt Rosenwinkel and Eric Truffaz, Colin Vallon plays the vintage Fender Rhodes with creativity and "salsa", and the rhythm section of Patrice Moret (double bass) and Lionel Friedli (drums) kicks hard from the beginning of the CD to the memory we keep after listening to it. And if you're thinking that the new “Thirty Six Ghosts” is a mere "collage" of styles, think again. Everything sounds so natural, so full of sense and fluidity that you can't resist to this wonderful music. |