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    <title>actuellecd.com - Headlines</title>
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    <description>actuellecd.com - Headlines</description>
    <language>en-ca</language>
    <pubDate>2012-05-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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      <title>Current &amp; Upcoming Events</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=evenement</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=evenement</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Live Events</category>
      <pubDate>2012-05-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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      <li>
        <b>May 15-20, 2012</b>: <span class="out" >Musique action 12</span>: 28th Festival
        
        
          Presented by
<a class="out" href="http://www.musiqueaction.com/">Musique action</a>
  
          (Vandœuvre-l&egrave;s-Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France)
        
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      <li>
        <b>May 17-20, 2012</b>: <span class="out" >FIMAV 12</span>: 28e Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville
        
        
          Presented by
<a class="out" href="http://www.fimav.qc.ca/">FIMAV</a>
  
          (Victoriaville, Qu&eacute;bec)
        
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      <li>
        <b>May 18-26, 2012</b>: <a class="out" href="http://www.festival-reflux.com/">Re:flux 12</a>: 8
        
        
          As part of
<span class="out" >Re:flux</span>; presented by
<a class="out" href="http://www.galeriesansnom.org/">Galerie Sans nom</a>
  
          (Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada)
        
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        <li>
          <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/liens/even/en_cours/">
Browse all upcoming events</a>
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      <title>New Arrival: Vivaces by Grand groupe régional d’improvisation libérée (GGRIL), Evan Parker</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120502</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120502</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-05-02T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/tdb_9006/" title="Vivaces"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/tdb_9006.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Vivaces" title="Grand groupe r&eacute;gional d’improvisation lib&eacute;r&eacute;e (GGRIL), Evan Parker: Vivaces" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/tdb_9006/" class="cat" class="t">Vivaces</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/ggril_/" class="bio" class="ind">Grand groupe r&eacute;gional d’improvisation lib&eacute;r&eacute;e (GGRIL)</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/parker_ev/" class="bio" class="ind">Evan Parker</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4656</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4656</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-05-02T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/sm_2160/" title="Sur un fil"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/sm_2160.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Sur un fil" title="&Eacute;ric Normand 5: Sur un fil" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/05/2012-05-02-asher-caddysoddell-eric.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), May 2, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
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              “Great level of interaction between musicians, and there’s something magic going on between them and the score. A demanding but highly satisfying listen. Bravo.”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] The Italian microlabel Setola di Maiale just released an excellent (yes, excellent) record by Rimouski-based bassist <span class="ind">&Eacute;ric Normand</span>. In October 2009, <span class="ind">Normand</span> assembled a stellar quintet to record three of his own compositions and an original rereading of <span class="ind">John Tchicai</span>’s <span class="w">Fields, Cows and Flowers</span>. He is surrounded by <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span>, <span class="ind">Michel F C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>, <span class="ind">James Darling</span> (cello) and <span class="ind">Antoine L&eacute;tourneau-Berger</span> (vibes and cymbals). On <span class="t">Sur un fil</span>, <span class="ind">Normand</span> deploys Spartan and enlightened compositional skills, and his score leaves plenty of room for all instrumentalists to showcase their extended techniques. Great level of interaction between musicians, and there’s something magic going on between them and the score. A demanding but highly satisfying listen. Bravo.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4665</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4665</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-20T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_205/" title="Danse &agrave; l’Anvers"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/am_205.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Danse &agrave; l’Anvers" title="Trio Derome Guilbeault Tanguay: Danse &agrave; l’Anvers" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Luc Bouquet

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://grisli.canalblog.com/archives/2012/04/20/24055975.html">Le son du grisli</a> (France), April 20, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Oui, le jazz passe, aujourd’hui, un petit peu du c&ocirc;t&eacute; de <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span> et de ses amis. L’alto est aiguis&eacute;, la contrebasse n’est pas d’appoint mais de rigueur et d’inspiration, la batterie foudroie le swing et extraie de la matrice rythmique mille infinis.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Ce n’est pas pour rien que le <span class="ind">Trio Derome Guilbeault Tanguay</span> r&eacute;initialise quelques-uns des th&egrave;mes de Kirk ou Dolphy. Comme ces deux derniers, isol&eacute;s et incompris de la jazzosph&egrave;re en leur temps, <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span>, <span class="ind">Normand Guilbeault</span> et <span class="ind">Pierre Tanguay</span> ne trouvent gu&egrave;re d’admirateurs, aujourd’hui, pour louer leur jazz vif et tranchant. Un jazz d&eacute;cal&eacute;, hors mode (les th&egrave;mes compos&eacute;s pour le baryton ne sont pas sans &eacute;voquer un autre outlaw du jazz: <span class="ind">Charles Tyler</span>) et puisant dans la p&eacute;riph&eacute;rie ses ressorts harmoniques.</p> <p>En ce sens, &agrave; mille lieux des tristes poseurs faisant les choux gras de la presse sp&eacute;cialis&eacute;e officielle. Oui, le jazz passe, aujourd’hui, un petit peu du c&ocirc;t&eacute; de <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span> et de ses amis. L’alto est aiguis&eacute;, la contrebasse n’est pas d’appoint mais de rigueur et d’inspiration, la batterie foudroie le swing et extraie de la matrice rythmique mille infinis. L’aventure continue pour le <span class="ind">Trio Derome Guilbeaut Tanguay</span>. Puissent-ils, enfin, &ecirc;tre entendus.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: Still Image by Owen Underhill</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120412</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120412</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-12T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cmccd_17412/" title="Still Image"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cmccd_17412.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Still Image" title="Owen Underhill: Still Image" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    <p>
      
      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cmccd_17412/" class="cat" class="t">Still Image</a>
      by <span  class="bio" class="ind">Owen Underhill</span>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>New Arrival: Freedman at Western Front by Ryan Driver, Justin Haynes, Jean Martin</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120402</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120402</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-02T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0317/" title="Freedman at Western Front"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0317.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Freedman at Western Front" title="Ryan Driver, Justin Haynes, Jean Martin: Freedman at Western Front" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    <p>
      
      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0317/" class="cat" class="t">Freedman at Western Front</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/driver_ry/" class="bio" class="ind">Ryan Driver</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/haynes_ju/" class="bio" class="ind">Justin Haynes</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/martin_je/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Jean Martin</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4638</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4638</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_15/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_15.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By John Sobol

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.litlive.ca/story/419">Canadian Review of Literature in Performance</a> #4 (Qu&eacute;bec), April 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “We share his trips via the ear, the eye, transforming solitary pleasures into momentary mutual metamorphoses.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Poet <span class="ind">Fortner Anderson</span> pads about the city burning with hope, crying into his notebook and laughing out the side of his sidewalks. His new collection — a daybook titled <span class="t">Solitary Pleasures</span> — takes twin form as both an intricately printed book and a CD featuring recorded recitations of 35 poems on a bed of musical nails. Fingernails bitten, painted, cracked, searching. The sound and echo of the city and its solitary pleasures, as painted by this sweet-singing adventurer of the everyday.</p> <p>Read, first — each page, each word, each letter carefully handcrafted and pressed by designer <span class="ind">Fabrizio Gilardino</span> — the melodic honesty of these blunt and blushing snapshot poems delights, invites, launching tiny fireworks with words of fire. Compassionate. Carnivalesque. Curious.</p> <p>Listened to, later — Fortner’s rasp supported by the lucid musical dreams of <span class="ind">Alex St-Onge</span> (bass), <span class="ind">Sam Shalabi</span> (electric guitar) and <span class="ind">Michel F Cot&eacute;</span> (drums and microphones), these same poems turn bleak, amidst liminal harmonic musings they hector and hurt. Contemptuous. Coruscating. Cutting.</p> <p>The city wrestles with hard feeling. The poet strolls into scene after scene licking up scattered personal truths like hits of acid. We share his trips via the ear, the eye, transforming solitary pleasures into momentary mutual metamorphoses.</p> <p>It helps.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Voyages musicaux</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4643</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4643</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/mam_015/" title="Lieux imagin&eacute;s"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/mam_015.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Lieux imagin&eacute;s" title="Cord&acirc;me: Lieux imagin&eacute;s" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Annie Landreville

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.scena.org/">La Scena Musicale</a> #17:7 (Qu&eacute;bec), April 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Il y a beaucoup d’&eacute;motions senties dans ces propositions de voyage o&ugrave; on d&eacute;colle sans peine pour atterrir en douceur. Enveloppant.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Madrid, Buenos Aires, Madagascar, Riga ou Brest, voil&agrave; des endroits bien r&eacute;els dont le contrebassiste <span class="ind">Jean F&eacute;lix Mailloux</span> s’est inspir&eacute;. Pourtant, ces lieux lui sont aussi totalement imaginaires puisqu’il n’y a jamais mis les pieds, mais cela ne l’emp&ecirc;che pas de s’en impr&eacute;gner pour mieux les imaginer.</p> <p>Pour son troisi&egrave;me disque, <span class="ind">Cord&acirc;me</span> revient &agrave; ses sources, soit la formule du trio &agrave; cordes (violon, violoncelle, contrebasse). Le compositeur, fin m&eacute;lodiste et arrangeur, nous transporte avec lui dans ses bagages. Alors que Vancouver lui inspire un tango, le flamenco incontournable de Madrid &eacute;vite quand m&ecirc;me la facilit&eacute; des clich&eacute;s par son rythme et sa m&eacute;lodie, tous deux rendus par les cordes expressives. Par ailleurs, ces portaits de lieux imagin&eacute;s ne sombrent pas dans le pi&egrave;ge de la r&eacute;f&eacute;rence oblig&eacute;e au folklore local, l’inspiration et l’&eacute;vocation s’av&eacute;rant plus pertinentes qu’une approche compositionelle relevant du simple pastiche ou de l’exercice de style.</p> <p>Pourtant, une note produite par-ci &eacute;voque une fl&ucirc;te, un jeu en pizzicato nous rappelle un effet de percussion par-l&agrave; et, un plus loin, une m&eacute;lodie semble &eacute;maner d’un erhu, ce violon chinois &agrave; deux cordes. L’acoustique de l’&eacute;glise du Ges&ugrave; sert tr&egrave;s bien le trio, le son r&eacute;sultant &eacute;tant plein, riche et chaleureux. Il y a beaucoup d’&eacute;motions senties dans ces propositions de voyage o&ugrave; on d&eacute;colle sans peine pour atterrir en douceur. Enveloppant.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4648</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4648</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-04-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_197/" title="Musique de Steve Lacy"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/am_197.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Musique de Steve Lacy" title="Steve Lacy, The Rent: Musique de Steve Lacy" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                        
                          
                        
                          <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/thomson_sc/discog/" title="Scott Thomson"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/photo/thomson_sc.5670.jpg?width=250&height=250" /></a>
                        
                      
                        
                      
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    By Ted Harms

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://eartripmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/eartrip7.pdf">Eartrip</a> #7 (UK), April 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
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              “I just thought to myself, listening to this music — this beautiful music — who is going to play these pieces, who’s going to play this incredible repertoire? So, that planted the seed.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>(TH): So, tell me how you got here, your interests…</p> <p><span class="ind">Scott Thomson</span> (ST): I started playing music late. I wasn’t conservatory- or university-trained as a musician. I started at twenty-five, and had already spent a couple years being involved in various ways with music: as a concert presenter, as a reviewer, radio broadcasting. I just felt like getting closer and closer to the music and eventually I started playing which seemed like the ultimate proximity.</p> <p>TH: Has it always been trombone?</p> <p>ST: I tried a couple of instruments. I tried to find the ‘voice.’ I started with, interestingly enough, higher pitched instruments — trumpet and clarinet — and then I started playing trombone and that was just right as it’s about the same as my vocal range — maybe there’s something to that, I’m not sure. I was interested primarily in improvisation when I started.</p> <p>TH: Were you listening to improv music as a kid and young adult?</p> <p>ST: I came to it relatively early on. I was probably nineteen when I started listening to <span class="ind">Derek Bailey</span> or <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span> or <span class="ind">Evan Parker</span> or whomever. I got into it really deeply, really quickly, which prompted this desire to get more involved. Doing a radio program at the University of Guelph radio station — programming it week in week out, doing the research — was a great education. I was reading and listening as much as I could to figure out what the hell was going on. And soon after I started playing, I began meeting people with whom I could play. <span class="ind">John Oswald</span> was a very early collaborator.</p> <p>TH: Was he in Guelph at the time?</p> <p>ST: I was in Toronto at the time. I was spending a lot of time in Guelph but some time in Toronto as well and I started playing with John when I was living there. We continue to play as a duet and we often play with [percussionist] <span class="ind">Germaine Liu</span>. Along the way, I got involved in different kinds of music through other people’s groups. <span class="ind">Convergence Ensemble</span> was an early collaborator in this regard. I started playing in his group, playing essentially jazz-based compositions in an open improvisation spirit. The most long-term groups I’ve been in are the duet with John/trio with Germaine, the <span class="ind">Ken Aldcroft Convergence Ensemble</span>, and Friendly Rich Marsella’s The Lollipop People, which is essentially a pop group although unlike most pop groups. It’s very interesting musically.</p> <p>TH: It has a bit of a cabaret element to it, no?</p> <p>ST: That’s the word that gets applied to it but I’m never sure what that means. I’m not so good at or hung up on genre labels, but that term seems to mean something to a lot of people so I’m happy to go along with it. I call it two-beat dance step music — oom pah, basically — but with some country and some other stuff in there as well.</p> <p>I also got involved as an organizer and founding board member of the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto on which I served until early 2009. And through AIMToronto, we got to work with and produce concerts with <span class="ind">Evan Parker</span>, <span class="ind">William Parker</span>, <span class="ind">Eddie Pr&eacute;vost</span>, <span class="ind">Joe McPhee</span>, <span class="ind">Lori Freedman</span>, <span class="ind">Michael Moore</span>, <span class="ind">Dylan van der Schyff</span>, <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span>… it’s a long list!</p> <p>TH: That’s a good list!</p> <p>ST: And growing, at least in term of that organization’s work. They just did a thing with <span class="ind">Hamid Drake</span>. The one with <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span> spawned a spin-off project, the <span class="ind">AIMToronto Orchestra</span>, which is now separate from AIMToronto organizationally. <span class="ind">Kyle Brenders</span> is the artistic director and I’m the administrative director. So, that group formed to do a project with <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span> that premiered at the Guelph Jazz Festival and was released on Spool Records. It’s a seventeen-piece creative orchestra and just released its first studio record a couple weeks ago called Year of the Boar on Barnyard Records. My first recording under my name was also on Barnyard, duets and solos by myself and clarinetist <span class="ind">Lori Freedman</span>, who continues to be a great friend and a great collaborator — she and I are both based in Montreal now. Though we seemed to play more when I was living in Toronto — don’t ask me to explain that one!</p> <p>Anyway, at a certain point, I got really interested in the idea of repertoire, a body of composed work that I could play with a group to see what potential the material holds for developing a collective sound and discovering music through improvisations. The models are everywhere in the history of jazz, but there was a really strong one in <span class="ind">Steve Lacy</span>, an American soprano saxophone player and composer who started out playing traditional jazz and Dixieland in early fifties with the greats: <span class="ind">Buck Clayton</span>, <span class="ind">Vic Dickinson</span>, <span class="ind">Pee Wee Russell</span>, a bunch more. So, that was his education and then <span class="ind">Cecil Taylor</span> came up to him and asked, “Why are you playing this old music?” And all of a sudden he was playing in the first <span class="ind">Cecil Taylor Unit</span>! And then he was playing with <span class="ind">Gil Evans</span> with later with <span class="ind">Carla Bley</span>. In his own late-fifties groups, the music that he wanted to play was by <span class="ind">Thelonious Monk</span>. At that point, Lacy may have been composing things but he wasn’t performing his compositions in public, as far as I know. What he was doing in public was playing repertoire, and doing the research to really uncover what the Monk repertoire holds, and he made a conscious decision to focus on Monk for quite a few years. He recorded the first all-Monk record other than Monk’s own bands, and played for six months in <span class="ind">Monk</span>’s quartet — he became the fifth member of the quartet which he equated with getting his Master’s degree. He then formed a quartet with <span class="ind">Roswell Rudd</span>, my teacher, to play only Monk every night. This was in the early sixties and they released the great record, School Days, which is recently reissued yet again on the Emanem label, who put it out first on vinyl with subsequent issues on Hat Hut…</p> <p>TH: Sorry, you said <span class="ind">Roswell Rudd</span> was ‘your teacher’. Have you had lessons from him?</p> <p>ST: I studied with Roswell two summers ago at his home in the Catskill Mountains. It was great. He’s a beautiful guy and so warm and so full of the stuff that I hold dear which is, well, to boil it down, musicality and kindness. There’s lots of other stuff there but that’s the main stuff.</p> <p>So, Lacy and Roswell were working together in the early sixties playing Monk’s music. Lots of people are playing Monk now and doing it extremely well and I didn’t feel a pressing need to explore that repertoire and to present it in public. But when I started playing I was already a fan of Lacy’s and I would go to hear him every chance I had which was difficult because he didn’t often play in Southern Ontario. I’d drive to Buffalo — there was a club called the Calumet where he’d play with his trio almost every year. It was amazing, so beautiful. Towards the end of his life — he died in 2004 — he played a solo concert at the Guelph Jazz Festival at the Guelph Youth Music Centre, which is a really nice venue for that. It was extraordinary. It was clear that he was dying, he was in pain. There’s a record that has just come out on Intakt called November, which was his last solo concert, recorded in Switzerland. So, that was the November after the September when I heard him. It was kind of the same feeling. He was in such pain that every time he clenched his diaphragm, he’d let out a little grunt. And it was really quite moving to hear him play.</p> <p>I just thought to myself, listening to this music — this beautiful music — who is going to play these pieces, who’s going to play this incredible repertoire? So, that planted the seed. At the time, speaking of <span class="ind">Thelonious Monk</span>, I’d been driving to Kitchener/Waterloo to play with <span class="ind">Kyle Brenders</span>, who plays a bunch of reed instruments, but soprano sax is one of his principal horns, and <span class="ind">Brandon Valdivia</span> [on drums] and the three of us would get together and play Monk’s music. We’d improvise collectively and play Monk tunes. And we tried doing it in public and it just didn’t come off as I’d hoped. It’s evidence of how tough that music is. I still work on it but I don’t play it in public, at least for now anyway. But it was clear that the three of us had sympathetic interests, Kyle and myself in particular. So, after Kyle moved to Toronto in 2007, after he studied with <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span> at Wesleyan University, I approached him about playing Lacy repertoire, and he was really excited by that. I started transcribing tunes and I had a small folio of photocopies of Lacy original scores and so we used that as a basis and slowly we put together a band.</p> <p>Brandon was the drummer and <span class="ind">Wes Neal</span>, an amazing bass player with whom I have played quite a bit in <span class="ind">Ken Aldcroft</span>’s group, came on board. That was the beginning of <span class="ind">The Rent</span>. We played as a quartet in early 2008 and rehearsed a lot. Along the way I met <span class="ind">Susanna Hood</span>, who’s a startling performer, incredible performer. She’s a dancer, primarily, in terms of her training, but also an extraordinary vocalist and really unsung in Toronto in her ability to sing song material. I said, well, I want this woman in my band, I want her to sing and eventually to dance as a soloist in the band. I knew I was onto something when I got her aboard and we had a rehearsal and it was amazing — those are not easy songs to sing. Very wide interval leaps, tricky rhythmic things — she’s great! All the reviews of the record consistently say how great she is &amp; they’re right.</p> <p>What wasn’t part of the plan — though I’m sure happy it worked out this way — is that, along the way, the two of us fell in love and eventually got married. So, it seemed like there was some synergy going on because, of course, Lacy performed with his wife, <span class="ind">Irene Aebi</span>, and that partnership really sustained that musical activity throughout their nearly four-decade collaboration. Susanna and I are just getting started but we’re inspired by the model of long-term collaboration to develop the work together.</p> <p>The band did a couple of residencies at my venue in Toronto, Somewhere There. I say ‘my’ because I opened it in 2007, partly in order to sustain residencies of this nature wherein a musician or a band, based in Toronto, could get two months of weekly gigs. I found at the time that it was really easy to get a one-off gig in Toronto but really hard to keep anything going and have some sustained period of playing together so you could actually develop repertoire and a group sound. So, we wound up doing one residency in 2008 and then another at the end of 2009. Unfortunately, well… it worked out very well in the end, but, unfortunately, Brandon decided to go away to South America for the winter so I was left without a drummer for the second residency. We’d really developed a whole bunch of this stuff; at that point we probably had about twenty-five or thirty Lacy tunes in the book.</p> <p>So, I called <span class="ind">Nick Fraser</span>, who’s pretty much my favourite drummer in Canada right now, hoping he would consider it, and he said ’yes.’ So, he did our residency and the band just took off musically. He’s just such a swinging drummer, just so tasteful, and he can really drive the band. We recorded immediately after that residency at The Farm, <span class="ind">Jean Martin</span>’s recording studio in Toronto and released the record on Ambiences Magn&eacute;tiques, a Montreal-based record label run by my friend <span class="ind">Joane H&eacute;tu</span>. She has been very supportive of the project, was delighted that we were recording Lacy. And since then, we released that record in the middle of 2010, and along the way Susanna and I got married, and then we moved to Montreal, so now the band is based in two cities.</p> <p>TH: Thank God for the 401 [the highway connecting Toronto and Montreal]!</p> <p>ST: Thank God for the 401, for Via Rail, for whatever means of transportation allow us to get together, which I still try to do about once a month, often playing in Toronto at the Tranzac Club. But we get to play a couple of festivals, like this one, and we’re playing at the Guelph Jazz Festival in the fall. At this point, I haven’t counted lately, but there are probably thirty-five to forty Lacy tunes in the book. Moreover, like Lacy who, after he did that work with the Monk book, started writing his own music to be sung by his wife and played by his band, I’ve been writing my own music lately for Susanna to sing and <span class="ind">The Rent</span> to play. So, at this point, we have a handful of my songs in the book as well. And, it seems like, in time, it might turn into a band that plays my music instead of Lacy’s music. But, for now, the Lacy music is still the core of the thing and I want to focus on that because it still needs and invites a lot of work. It’s still very motivating. So, that’s the history.</p> <p>TH: Steve was very much pre-occupied with playing regularly. One reason he moved to Paris was so that he could play every night and not just a one-off gig here and there. It isn’t just enough to get a band together and rehearse because everybody would like to get paid for the gig and playing it live does add an edge to it because you can feed off the audience and the venue.</p> <p>ST: But the energy input and output is just completely different in our specific situation. Playing every night is virtually impossible now, but it’s important to play when we can because the music lives in people’s ears, not just in the band’s ears.</p> <p>TH: The thing about Lacy though, at least from what I’ve read, is that by the end it seemed everyone just wanted him to play Monk or to not bring the band. Are you worried that, in light of bringing in your own songs, that <span class="ind">The Rent</span> will be known as a <span class="ind">Thelonious Monk</span> project?</p> <p>ST: I’m not worried. If somebody really wants us to play Lacy music, at this point, I’m more than happy to do so. That may change, but I don’t feel any conflict with that. First and foremost, I’ll try to do what I think is right. But I also understand the economics of the situation. There are going to be some festivals and some promoters that want the Lacy repertoire. I can’t really worry about that. That people want the band to play at all is, to me, the most important thing.</p> <p>TH: Steve was concerned about his legacy and saying in interviews that he hoped that his songs live thirty or forty years after he’s gone, that people are walking around humming Lacy tunes. Just like he had a hand in the Monk revival, or the Monk continuation, and he used Monk as a springboard for his own music.</p> <p>ST: He was an incredibly prolific composer and he has so many more compositions than <span class="ind">Thelonious Monk</span> does. There’s no questioning the quality and importance of the Monk canon but Lacy was steadfast and diligent about documenting his work. With the exception of <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span>, I can think of few contemporary jazz and creative musicians that have documented their work so intensively. It’s interesting what you say about having the music live on in people’s minds, ears, and hearts. There’s a two-CD set called Futurities from the early eighties. It’s a larger group playing a suite of songs that set poems by <span class="ind">Robert Creeley</span>. They called it Futurities because when they were doing the rehearsals and performances, someone suggested that these are the standards of the future — they’re great and they’re going to live on. He took that one step further and named the whole disc after that. And, appropriately enough, a couple of those tunes are in our book.</p> <p>TH: You mentioned the <span class="ind">Robert Creeley</span> connection. Lacy had a long list of collaborators, and not just musically; there are the poets he worked with like Creeley, <span class="ind">Brion Gysin</span>, <span class="ind">Lew Welch</span>, etc. How does that inform <span class="ind">The Rent</span>? With Susanna involved, you’re already getting the dance aspect, which again was what Lacy did, having written two or three ballets, but where are the future collaborations for the group?</p> <p>ST: They are too numerous to name. I’m thinking of new ones all the time. The current collaborations are right there in front of us. Lacy was one of the most, if not the most, literary of jazz musicians. He truly believed and felt the inseparability of the arts, a ’Renaissance Man’ sensibility, something he learned from <span class="ind">Duke Ellington</span>, among many other people. So, his pieces are dedicated not only to musicians, but also to painters, poets, writers, dancers. And I like to think I bring some of the same sensibility. I mean, part of the history that I didn’t say before was that I have a couple of degrees in English Literature, I used to help edit a literary journal and I read poetry all the time. I’m deeply inspired by Lacy’s hugely original approach to setting contemporary verse to music by letting the rhythm of the language dictate what the music is going to sound like. And so his treatment of <span class="ind">Robert Creeley</span> and the other single-poet projects he did are great. There is a bunch of suites — he started with the Tao Suite, where he set Lao Tzu, the Robert Creeley Futurities, and later on he set Blaga Dimitrova, the great Bulgarian poet, in a recording called Vespers, which is a beautiful project and we do two of those. There is also Taslima Nasrin; it was the last large-group project I saw Lacy do, which is called The Cry. She’s a feminist poet of Indian descent who writes really heart-wrenching verse. And Gysin as you mentioned. The model is a trenchant one for me, and I’m setting poets and poetry I admire to music.</p> <p>TH: What poets? Any that are contemporary?</p> <p>ST: We lost P.K. Page last year and she’s probably number one on my radar right now. <span class="ind">Jan Zwicky</span> is a superb poet, as well as a contemporary philosopher that people are going to read because she has such a great writerly voice. I’ve tried setting some of <span class="ind">Don McKay</span>’s work to music but it’s pretty complex, metrically. Some things live just fine on the page and they don’t need to be touched. The mark of a good poem isn’t whether or not I can set it to music! Thank God! As I was saying, it’s not like the poetry is untouchable; I don’t approach anything if it’s too precious but, in practical terms, some poetry doesn’t want to be set to music. Some is musical enough as it is and doesn’t need to be set.</p> <p>P.K. Page’s poetry, for example, a lot of it is danceable. And the connection between song and dance is a priority not only for Lacy but also for me. She’s a painter, as well, and the interdisciplinary feeling is bred in the bone of her work. But in terms of the interdisciplinary nature of the band, one thing that people don’t know from just listening to the recording is Susanna’s contribution as an improvising soloist as a dancer. It’s really a key component of the band. It creates a fairly unique dynamic in terms of a band playing tunes. It is one thing to improvise with a dancer in a freely improvised context, but it’s something else altogether to be working with this material, and it brings to bear some really interesting questions about what it means to dance on song material. What’s the role of a dancing soloist? And these are questions that Susanna answers startlingly well, and that’s something that you need to see to appreciate.</p> <p>…as it happens, Susanna appears and joins us…</p> <p>TH: So, Susanna, how do you get involved in the process?</p> <p><span class="ind">Susanna Hood</span> (SH): Well, I was trying to describe this the other night to somebody after our last show. I want things to stay on an intuitive level, but I would like to get to a more analytical approach to dancing on these songs and I’m starting to engage more actively in some of this research. If there’s the head that is written that we’re improvising on musically, what movement vocabulary specific to that song offers the jumping off points to improvise as a dancer? At this point, with most of the material, I haven’t done that kind of work. So, I’m working on the basis of my experience singing the material, which is corporeal in and of itself — the music feels a certain way inside of me.</p> <p>I’m also working from the content of the lyric and when I’m actually out there moving, in general, the way I think about sound and movement is very similar. I can say that I hear movement and I see sound — so, those synapses are firing in me all the time! And then when I’m out on the floor improvising, I listen in a different way when I’m moving…it’s hard to describe. My whole body becomes a listening organ so some things I’m very conscious of hearing while, with other things, it’s a quicker-than-thought response and I think different contributions to the improvisation pop out more specifically to me at different times. I’m listening to different people in the ensemble at different moments but I do have a special relationship to the rhythm section. I listen to Nick a lot — not in a way that I could say what he was doing or tell you exactly what Wes [<span class="ind">The Rent</span>’s regular bassist] or Rob [Clutton, subbing in for Wes for this gig] is doing. I would say they’re more in my bones. I relate to the horns in a different way, a more linear way; I find I’m either responding directly to them or not at all. But the rhythm section is always present. I’m working to manifest physically what I’m hearing but also making my own choices. In this way, I like thinking of myself as one of the horns, in a way.</p> <p>TH: For the rehearsals, how much do you work up cues for the other musicians to say we’re going into this section of that section of the tune, and then how much wiggle room is there? Because if you find a groove, you want to keep it going and hopefully everybody can get on the bus with you. But if there is a song structure, at times you might need to drop what you’re doing to go back to the head or we’re wrapping up.</p> <p>ST: The rehearsal process is fundamentally one of understanding the material better. And that usually has to do simply with investigating the notated parts.</p> <p>SH: Sometimes we do improvise together…</p> <p>ST: …but we never work out cues. One of the principles that I’m working with is that the musicians are there because they make good choices. I wouldn’t ask people to play if I didn’t think they would make good choices. I have faith in their ability to organize the music well. So in that sense, it’s really an improvising band; we improvise on, from, and through material and that happens at a couple different levels.</p> <p>It happens not only on the levels of rhythm, harmony, pitch but also in response to lyrics and to movement in space. And the more we play together, the better that gets. For me, the best rehearsal is simply to play. I’d love to rehearse more but it’s just not practical right now. I want to pay my musicians and the economics of the situation just don’t make it practical. But I don’t think the music is compromised because we have discovered so much in performance already and will continue to do so. There will be some great surprises on Saturday. Rest assured!</p> <p>TH: This music is a high-wire act. It’s not like going to NASCAR to watch just for the crashes but you do want that “on edge” aspect of it. You know that you’re seeing and hearing something and it’s never going to happen again. Even when you have the CD and people, unfortunately, might show up wanting you to play “The Mad Yak” just like you did on the CD because it’s so great. And then they get there, but it’s going to something different. The song is just the framework and then the band is filling in the gaps.</p> <p>ST: I can’t spend too much time and energy worrying about what people expect. Who knows what people want to hear? I don’t think people know themselves what they want to hear until they hear it. For me, and I daresay for the whole band, the working process is a positive one because it involves a lot of risk and play. We have material to play with, on, and through and as we’re doing that, individually and collectively, there’s a chance that it could just grind to a halt or fall of a cliff. That’s exciting to me. And most of the music I love functions this way. It just gives me the motivation to keep doing it, and also to write new material so that we have other contexts in which to explore that group dynamic.</p> <p>Before I forget, there was one other aspect of the interdisciplinary nature of the project that bears mention, the cover of our CD. It is resonant because it’s a painting by our very close friend <span class="ind">John Heward</span>, a painter and a percussionist based in Montreal. John was a close friend of Lacy’s. He and Irene would stay at John’s studio when they were passing through. John and Lacy also did a duo recording together, and John’s been a staunch supporter of ours through the whole project so it was natural not only to include his work on the cover, but also, when we make it work, to hang some of his work in the space where we’re performing. We’ve done that at our CD release in Toronto and I’m hoping, in time, to be able do something more elaborate, which involves a kind of set design of some of John’s paintings so that we can really make things vibrate together — the music, the dance, the poetry, and the painting. These things are all happening together and it’s really exciting for me.</p> <p>TH: I’ve got some Lacy quotes and I think we’ve touched on a lot of them already but Susanna, as well, I could just get your response to these quotes, and just how <span class="ind">The Rent</span> is either trying to embody them or use them as a jumping off point. This is one is just what we were talking about: “The unity between all the arts as well as the infinite possibilities of collaborations between artists of different disciplines and different persuasions has long been apparent to many of us.” Susanna, how does the art influence you, how does the rhythm section influence you…</p> <p>SH: This project certainly, as Scott’s saying, embodies a lot of those meetings specifically, but I would say, in general, that’s how I’m inspired to work; a lot of my work outside of this context has been influenced by visual art. Almost every project I’ve ever started has its roots there. My father is a painter and maybe this influence comes from there. Certainly, when I first started making work, a lot of the principles of the time when people like <span class="ind">John Cage</span> collaborated with <span class="ind">Merce Cunningham</span> plus the various artists they worked with like <span class="ind">Jasper Johns</span> to <span class="ind">Robert Rauschenberg</span> were at the core of the way that I create. I call myself a dance artist because it’s convenient and one needs a label and I’m lucky that the dance world seems pretty open to a fairly broad definition of what dance is. And, as I said, for me, sound-making and movement-making come very much from the same source and I have an intimate experience of that because my instrument is my body, a vehicle for both of those aspects of my work in general and this band in particular.</p> <p>ST: There’s only one thing I would add. I’ve talked about this in the context of the band, but in general, I made a conscious choice to be in the world of art-making because I get to meet and work with amazing people, the best people, and it doesn’t matter if those people are painters or dancers or writers or musicians or dedicated fans. They’re just really exciting and interesting people and the kind of people I want to populate my world with. So, it’s a no-brainer not to close myself off to the influence of any particular discipline.</p> <p>TH: Another quote, which we’ve touched on already: “What I’m searching for is a certain rapport between the piece and the playing, something that makes a unity between the structures and the playing. I’m seeking a music that unifies these different things. For me, composition and improvisation must be the same thing — it forms a whole. And since, for example, on School Days it was on the way towards that.” With dance, you might have some steps or movement that you want to get into certain pieces. But how do you allow that to open doors as opposed to keeping things to a rough plan?</p> <p>SH: I think it really comes down to listening. The most concrete part of my role — the thing that is the least changeable — is the lyric, is singing the song. And even there, every night is going to be different. I’m listening to the way the whole organism is functioning and that’s what makes it interesting and alive and that influences how I perform. It wouldn’t make any sense to shut off my ears and launch into movement or sound.</p> <p>TH: But what if you find something that works? What if there’s one time when you think “That’s it! This is what I need to do.”</p> <p>SH: I haven’t found that yet — fortunately or unfortunately! And generally, my experience in this band and anywhere else is that anytime I try to hold on to something or recreate something it’s almost surely a recipe for disaster or it’s not juicy anymore. That’s not what it’s about. It’s a constant act of letting go. That’s just my relationship to improvising in general.</p> <p>TH: And that works into the next quote. The interviewer quotes somebody else: “The only value of a work of art is the value it gives to other people.”</p> <p>ST: Is that from an interview by <span class="ind">Raymond Gervais</span>?</p> <p>TH: [checks source] Yes, it is.</p> <p>ST: Raymond is a new friend in Montreal. He presented Lacy’s first concert in Montreal. He’s a very interesting man and I’m looking forward to getting to know him better. The quotation is from…</p> <p>TH: … <span class="ind">Giuseppe Chiari</span>. Lacy’s response is “Yes, of course. Sartre said the same thing. It means that once it’s done, it’s not yours anymore. It belongs to everyone and it’s for them to do something or not notice.”</p> <p>ST: This is not my music. One could say this is Lacy’s music but obviously it’s not Lacy’s music either if he says it belongs to the group, it belongs to the people; it lives in the ears of my bandmates and in the ears of the listeners.</p> <p>TH: And as we were saying before, the audience, in music in general and especially in improvisation, the feedback you get, either emotionally or visually or mentally, is a component as well.</p> <p>ST: It better be! Or why are you playing in public?</p> <p>SH: It’s palpable. The whole room is collaborating with what’s going on. The music is all of our responsibility in that moment. And everybody in the room is contributing to that in different ways.</p> <p>ST: And if it’s on the level of language, so be it. If it’s on the level of composition or written materials, so be it. If it’s on the level of improvisation, so be it. Hopefully it’s all those things at once. But the possibility is that it is any of those things, which just opens up the field.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: Sur un fil by Éric Normand 5</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120329</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120329</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-29T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/sm_2160/" title="Sur un fil"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/sm_2160.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Sur un fil" title="&Eacute;ric Normand 5: Sur un fil" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/sm_2160/" class="cat" class="t">Sur un fil</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/normand5_er/" class="bio" class="ind">&Eacute;ric Normand 5</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>New Arrival: The Reveries by Eric Chenaux, Ryan Driver, Jean Martin, Doug Tielli</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120328</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120328</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-28T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0327/" title="The Reveries"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0327.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="The Reveries" title="Eric Chenaux, Ryan Driver, Jean Martin, Doug Tielli: The Reveries" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0327/" class="cat" class="t">The Reveries</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/chenaux_er/" class="bio" class="ind">Eric Chenaux</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/driver_ry/" class="bio" class="ind">Ryan Driver</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/martin_je/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Jean Martin</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/tielli_do/" class="bio" class="ind">Doug Tielli</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
    </p>
  

  

  
    
    

    
      
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: Revue &amp; corrigée #91 by Various artists</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120327</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120327</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-27T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/rc_91/" title="Revue & corrig&eacute;e #91"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/rc_91.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Revue & corrig&eacute;e #91" title="Various artists: Revue & corrig&eacute;e #91" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    <p>
      
      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/rc_91/" class="cat" class="t">Revue & corrig&eacute;e #91</a>
      by Various artists,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4637</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4637</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-27T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_14/" title="La Formule Xyz"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_14.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="La Formule Xyz" title="Xyz: La Formule Xyz" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Pierre C&eacute;cile

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.lesondugrisli.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), March 27, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Cette fin d’alphabet est po&eacute;tique, au point qu’on se contentera &agrave; pr&eacute;sent comme le trio d’un alphabet de trois lettres!”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Ils avaient d&eacute;j&agrave; jou&eacute; avec <span class="ind">Kim Myrh</span> (<span class="t">Disparition de l’usine &eacute;ph&eacute;m&egrave;re</span>), les voici r&eacute;unis pour mettre au jour une formule &eacute;ponyme (XYZ). On parle &agrave; son sujet de musique post-industrielle, d’improvisation &eacute;lectroacoustique qui partirait dans tous les sens. Et force est de constater qu’il y a de &ccedil;a chez <span class="ind">Pierre-Yves Martel</span> (feedback, static), <span class="ind">Martin T&eacute;treault</span> (pick-up, equalizer) et <span class="ind">Philippe Lauzier</span> (saxophone soprano, clarinette basse, ampli pr&eacute;par&eacute;).</p> <p>On passe pr&egrave;s d’un chantier extraordinaire, des plaques de m&eacute;tal sont travaill&eacute;es par des appareils tr&eacute;pidants qui s’enrayent. Derri&egrave;re, il y a ce jardin o&ugrave; nous berce une cascade (le soprano se sert de sa rumeur comme d’un tremplin). On sort alors par une autre porte, et c’est un installation qui nous accueille: des machines &agrave; coudre tr&eacute;pignent guid&eacute;es par le commandement de <span class="ind">Lauzier</span>. Cette fin d’alphabet est po&eacute;tique, au point qu’on se contentera &agrave; pr&eacute;sent comme le trio d’un alphabet de trois lettres!</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Music Reviews</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4635</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4635</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-22T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_15/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_15.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Lawrence Joseph

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/2012/03/22/music-reviews-74/">Montreal Mirror</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), March 22, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Very Montreal”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Diary of a year in verse / Spring and summer months over-represented / <span class="ind">Anderson</span>’s declarative voice backed by minimalist noise trio / <span class="ind">Shalabi</span>, guitar / <span class="ind">St-Onge</span>, sensitive bass and electronics / <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>, drums and eerie microphone feedback / Daily mundane observations / Bodily functions, scenes on sidewalks, cats in the park / Alternate with metaphysical ramblings / Friend’s experience with chemotherapy / Very Montreal / Weather references / Drive to the country / Talk of the Casa, Pharmaprix and drinking. 8/10</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4631</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4631</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_16/" title="Ctenophora"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_16.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Ctenophora" title="Guido Del Fabbro: Ctenophora" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/03/2012-03-16-guido-del-fabbro-shalabist.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), March 16, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “An odd but artistically successful proposition.”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] This is a very different endeavour for Montreal violinist/multi-instrumentalist <span class="ind">Guido Del Fabbro</span> (<span class="ind">Rouge Ciel</span>, <span class="ind">Fanfare Pourpour</span>, etc.). This solo album is a whole different story than <span class="t">Carr&eacute; de sable</span> or <span class="t">Agr&eacute;gats</span>. Short at 35 minutes, it features five compositions superimposing tracks of electronics, analog synthesizers, and violin/recorder loops. Each track weaves a strange, alienating, yet fully functional soundworld. An odd but artistically successful proposition.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4632</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4632</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_17/" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_17.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Jane and The Magic Bananas" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas: Jane and The Magic Bananas" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/03/2012-03-16-guido-del-fabbro-shalabist.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), March 16, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “I will have to revisit this one”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] On paper, it is tempting to approach <span class="ind">Jane and the Magic Bananas</span> as a variation on <span class="ind">Klaxon Gueule</span>. However, a first spin throws that away. It rather feels like a free form jam band. Tracks are short (nothing beyond five and a half minutes) and left relatively undefined — the whole album could be seen as a loose suite. I will have to revisit this one on a less frantic morning.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4625</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4625</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-12T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_16/" title="Ctenophora"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_16.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Ctenophora" title="Guido Del Fabbro: Ctenophora" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Frans De Waard

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.vitalweekly.net/823.html">Vital</a> #823 (Netherlands), March 12, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “[…] every time I play it, I regret it’s over.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>The picture of <span class="ind">Guido Del Fabbro</span> shows a young man with a violin, which in the opening seconds/minutes of his <span class="t">Ctenophora</span> release shows. But it quickly moves into something else, and that something else is not easy to define. At first it seems that it’s all electronic manipulation of those first few violin sounds, but the cover also lists ’flutes a bec’ and ’electroniques’ as well as ’synthetiseurs’, but these instruments are also presented as they are. That makes an odd result of improvisation, composition, analogue and electronic music. Quite interesting music I must say, perhaps because its so difficult to define. At times very modern classical, but then with all those microscopic pulses, gliding electronic scales, crackles, also very much the work of improvised electro-acoustic music. Fascinating collision of styles and ideas in some gorgeous sounding set of five pieces. Could have been seven as far as I’m concerned, as every time I play it, I regret it’s over.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4626</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4626</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-12T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_17/" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_17.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Jane and The Magic Bananas" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas: Jane and The Magic Bananas" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Frans De Waard

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.vitalweekly.net/823.html">Vital</a> #823 (Netherlands), March 12, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Quite a vibrant and energetic release.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>The other release is by at least two musicians by whom we hear more music on the same label: <span class="ind">Alexandre St-Onge</span> on bass and electronics and <span class="ind">Michel F Cote</span> on amplified drums, along with <span class="ind">Sam Shalabi</span> on electric guitar. All three known from their experiment in improvised music, and here they do the same, but with a slight twist. It seems to me they are using the ’no wave/no new york’ format of a slightly more pop-like character, sans any vocals of course. Nervous hectic playing on all three instruments, but occasionally leaping into a bit of a rock mode, all in a very free reign of play. Jazzy also times, but not as much as one could all too easily think. Quite a vibrant and energetic release. Exactly the right Ultra spirit, but then from Montreal.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Heard In</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4627</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4627</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-12T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/victo_121/" title="Anuraaqtuq"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/victo_121.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Anuraaqtuq" title="Tanya Tagaq: Anuraaqtuq" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Kurt Gottschalk

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.squidsear.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=1421">The Squid’s Ear</a> (USA), March 12, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “<span class="t">Anuraaqtuq</span> is an hour of out-of-her-gourd spontaneity. The freedom of the extended improvised session suits <span class="ind">Tagaq</span> well; She has nothing but room here to stretch and freak out.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Having earned her avant pop stripes working with <span class="ind">Bjork</span> and <span class="ind">Mike Patton</span>, Inuit throat singer <span class="ind">Tanya Tagaq</span> plunged deeper into the fringes at the 2009 Guelph Jazz Festival where she was paired with drummer <span class="ind">Jean Martin</span> and violinist <span class="ind">Jesse Zubot</span>, two movers in the Toronto out jazz scene. To say her music got stranger or more abstract would be hasty — the tradition she mines is pretty deep — but she now had a standing band and was plugged into the Canadian festival circuit.</p> <p><span class="ind">Tagaq</span> is an animated performer. Enormously so, and the tradition of Inuit throat singing lends well to that. Similar in technique to the more familiar Tuvan throat singing (made known in the free improv world by Mongolian vocalist <span class="ind">Sainkho Namtchylak</span>), the Inuit style is more centered on storytelling and humor. The singer may portray hunting scenes, emulate animal sounds, or reach deep into fear, sadness, joy or sexuality. <span class="ind">Tagaq</span> draws from all of these in her evocative performances. She is raw and unbridled and often channels an eroticism unusual in the staid and intellectual free improv scene. (No sex please, we’re post-jazz.)</p> <p><span class="t">Anuraaqtuq</span> is <span class="ind">Tagaq</span>’s third record and her first with <span class="ind">Martin</span> and <span class="ind">Zubot</span>. The 2005 <span class="t">Sinaa</span> received scant distribution outside Canada, despite winning several Canadian Aboriginal Music awards, so 2008’s <span class="t">Auk/Blood</span>, released on <span class="ind">Patton</span>’s Ipecac label, was many listeners’ first introduction to her. It was a daring but uneven record, pulled in different directions by a varied cast of contributors. <span class="t">Anuraaqtuq</span> on the other hand is an hour of out-of-her-gourd spontaneity. The freedom of the extended improvised session suits <span class="ind">Tagaq</span> well; She has nothing but room here to stretch and freak out. And drenched in reverb, the disc is far from a stark and pristine session. <span class="ind">Martin</span> and <span class="ind">Zubot</span> play their parts perfectly, always supporting her but never letting the ground beneath her feet get too firm.</p> <p>Ten years into her performing career, it still seems early to tell where <span class="ind">Tagaq</span> might go with her avant garde Inuit art. But there’s a world of long-form experimentation already inhabited by such vocalists as <span class="ind">Namtchylak</span>, <span class="ind">Makagami Koichi</span> and <span class="ind">Phil Minton</span>, which is there for the taking if she wants it.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4647</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4647</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-03-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cmccd_17412/" title="Still Image"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cmccd_17412.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Still Image" title="Owen Underhill: Still Image" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By David Gordon Duke

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/03/01/owen-underhill-launches-cd-of-new-chamber-music/">The Vancouver Sun</a> (Canada), March 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “[…] proved both a welcome sample of his recent work and a demonstration of his personal journey as a composer.”
            
          
        
          
            <p><span class="ind">Owen Underhill</span> is a major presence in Canada’s new music community; the launch of a new CD, <span class="t">Still Image</span>, devoted to his chamber music, proved both a welcome sample of his recent work and a demonstration of his personal journey as a composer.</p> <p>Somewhat unusually for a launch, at least where classical repertoire is concerned, Sunday evening at SFU Woodwards saw the live performance of all four works on the disk: two string quartets written about a decade apart, performed by Montreal’s <span class="ind">Quatour Bozzini</span>, plus two quintets. Accepting the slightly artificial construct of an entire evening of work by the same composer (which invariably blurs the already wide line between superficial mannerisms and the genuine original voice) the selection of works proved a good one. <span class="ind">Underhill</span>’s strategies for the string quartet have a consistency, but there is also a sense of growth and discovery, revealed by the conjunction of his <span class="w">String Quartet No. 3 — The Alynne</span>, written in the late 90s, and the new <span class="w">String Quartet No. 4 — The Night</span> composed last year.</p> <p>I’ll admit that my own firm predjudice against the combination of clarinet and strings made me less enthusiasic about <span class="t">Still Image</span>, a clarinet quintet that takes the special skill set of <span class="ind">Fran&ccedil;ois Houle</span> very much in mind and ear. Yet it’s by any standard an effective piece.</p> <p>My favourite work of the evening saw the rare combination of trombone and strings. There has been little written for this particular combination; <span class="ind">Underhill</span>’s lovely work makes one wonder why. I’ve long believed that a number of Vancouver’s finest trombone players are some of the most sensitive musicians in town. That <span class="ind">Jeremy Berkman</span> could reveal an enormous range of sonorous possibilities was a given, as was the inevitability of a sterling performance.</p> <p><span class="ind">Underhill</span> has created a showcase for the trombone, with both plenty of novelty and a rock-solid foundation of expressive and very beautivul writing for the instrument with string support and commentary. The four-movement <span class="w">Trombone Quintet</span> is a composition that would grace virtually any chamber music program, and a real treasure for those trombone players who wish to participate in the rarefied world of chamber music-making.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4616</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4616</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-25T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1112/" title="Aberrare"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cqb_1112.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Aberrare" title="Bozzini Quartet: Aberrare" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Luc Bouquet

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.lesondugrisli.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), February 25, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “[…] m&eacute;lodies d’une simplicit&eacute; enfantine, toujours temp&eacute;r&eacute;es et profondes.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Apr&egrave;s avoir interpr&eacute;t&eacute; <span class="ind">Cage</span>, <span class="ind">Malcolm Goldstein</span> et quelques autres, le <span class="ind">Quatuor Bozzini</span> (<span class="ind">Charles-Edouard Marchand</span>: violon, <span class="ind">Clemens Merkel</span>: violon, St&eacute;phanie et <span class="ind">Isabelle Bozzini</span>: violon alto et violoncelle) s’int&eacute;resse aux œuvres de <span class="ind">Martin Arnold</span>, compositeur contemporain install&eacute; &agrave; Toronto.</p> <p>Dans ces quatre œuvres, quelques constantes: continuit&eacute; et &eacute;tirements-d&eacute;placements de la m&eacute;lodie, silences, r&eacute;miniscence de musique ancienne, unissons, variantes des hauteurs et refus de la bride, du motif, de la phrase. Soit une r&eacute;p&eacute;tition-juxtaposition de m&eacute;lodies que l’on croirait instantan&eacute;es, improvis&eacute;es; m&eacute;lodies d’une simplicit&eacute; enfantine, toujours temp&eacute;r&eacute;es et profondes.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4617</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4617</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-25T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1110/" title="Le mensonge et l’identit&eacute;"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cqb_1110.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Le mensonge et l’identit&eacute;" title="Bozzini Quartet: Le mensonge et l’identit&eacute;" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Luc Bouquet

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.lesondugrisli.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), February 25, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Bel exploit.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Avec <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span> et <span class="ind">Joane H&eacute;tu</span>, compositeurs de cette œuvre, le <span class="ind">Quatuor</span> joue et parle (pr&eacute;sentation des musiciens, citations diverses). En trois mouvements, Le mensonge et l’identit&eacute; creuse et multiplie la cassure. Les cordes sont stridentes, ac&eacute;r&eacute;es, oppressantes. Le quatuor &agrave; cordes est ici appr&eacute;hend&eacute; comme un mod&egrave;le de soci&eacute;t&eacute;, comme une communaut&eacute;. Il t&eacute;moigne des d&eacute;sunions (enchev&ecirc;trements des pi&egrave;ces), se d&eacute;place et se perd, sature la violence jusqu’&agrave; l’ultime tension mais maintient toujours le cap de l’&eacute;change et du partage. Bel exploit.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4618</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4618</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-25T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1111/" title="Sens(e) Absence"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cqb_1111.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Sens(e) Absence" title="Bozzini Quartet: Sens(e) Absence" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Guillaume Belhomme

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.lesondugrisli.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), February 25, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “[…] tant les nuances et d&eacute;viations inspirent de subtilit&eacute; &agrave; ces deux pi&egrave;ces.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Sur <span class="t">Sens(e) Absence</span>, le <span class="ind">Quatuor Bozzini</span> tend ses cordes et les arrange en fils t&eacute;l&eacute;graphiques. Sous l’archet, ceux-ci respirent: donc, se r&eacute;p&egrave;tent. Mais sans lasser, tant les nuances et d&eacute;viations inspirent de subtilit&eacute; &agrave; ces deux pi&egrave;ces, sign&eacute;es <span class="ind">Ernstalbrecht Stiebler</span> et <span class="ind">Daniel Rothman</span>, coupl&eacute;es pour &ecirc;tre d’un contemporain subtil.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4646</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4646</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-24T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cmccd_17412/" title="Still Image"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cmccd_17412.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Still Image" title="Owen Underhill: Still Image" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Elissa Poole

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/disc-of-the-week-the-sleigh-bells-nothing-if-not-niche/article2349441/page2/?service=mobile">The Globe and Mail</a> (Canada), February 24, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “The <span class="ind">Bozzini Quartet</span> provides haunting interpretations of <span class="ind">Underhill</span>’s third and fourth string quartets, which sneak up on the heart via the head.”
            
          
        
          
            <p><span class="ind">Owen Underhill</span>’s music is a sea of fluid contrasts: the busy clockwork time of action and dance and the suspended time of contemplation; bold gestures that cut across static, glassy textures; counterpoint one can see through, like a forest of bare trees, yet folded into consonances. The <span class="ind">Bozzini Quartet</span> provides haunting interpretations of <span class="ind">Underhill</span>’s third and fourth string quartets, which sneak up on the heart via the head. Superb soloists grace the two wind quintets: <span class="ind">Jeremy Berkman</span>, who turns phrases into characters with eloquent tone and smooth line in <span class="ind">Underhill</span>’s stunning <span class="w">Trombone Quintet</span>, and clarinetist <span class="ind">Fran&ccedil;ois Houle</span>, whose cultivation of unorthodox techniques — liquid quartertones and multiphonics like fine sandpaper — heightens the sense of a music in which the detail is almost tactile, and none of it is expendable.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>New Arrivals</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120216</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120216</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_16/" title="Ctenophora"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_16.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Ctenophora" title="Guido Del Fabbro: Ctenophora" /></a>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_17/" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_17.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Jane and The Magic Bananas" title="Jane and The Magic Bananas: Jane and The Magic Bananas" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    
    
  

  

  
    
      <p>
        
        We have added 2 items to our shop today:
      </p>
      
      <ul>
    
    
    <li>
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_16/" class="cat" class="t">Ctenophora</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/delfabbro_gu/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Guido Del Fabbro</a>
    </li>
    
    
  

  

  

  

  
    
    
    <li>
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_17/" class="cat" class="t">Jane and The Magic Bananas</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/janeandthemagicbanan_/" class="bio" class="ind">Jane and The Magic Bananas</a>
    </li>
    
    
      </ul>
      
      <p>
        
        We invite you to check them out!
      </p>
    
  

  
    
    

    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4613</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4613</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-14T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                      
                      
                        
                          
                        
                          <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/normand_er/discog/" title="&Eacute;ric Normand"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/photo/normand_er.5427.jpg?width=250&height=250" /></a>
                        
                      
                        
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Dan Bigna

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.bmamag.com/articles/gig-reviews/20120213-soundout-2012/">BMA Magazine</a> (Australia), February 14, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “When <span class="ind">Michael Norris</span>’ flailing tonal pitches on electronics were added to the mix the ensuing sound from the three performers was a welcome exploration of noise that improvised music hasn’t forgotten.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>[…] This was a shining example of micro-tonal field performance, but let’s contrast this with the superb Saturday afternoon theatre set from electric guitarist <span class="ind">Ryan Kernoa</span> in combination with electric bassist <span class="ind">Eric Normand</span> and Canberra musician <span class="ind">Michael Norris</span> on electronics. <span class="ind">Normand</span> does a lot more than merely strum his instrument in time which one often comes to expect from a bassist. If I can be so bold to make the comparison, <span class="ind">Normand</span> does for improvised music what <span class="ind">Joy Division</span> bassist <span class="ind">Peter Hook</span> did for post-punk in terms of redefining the role of the bass, so that it adopts the role of a lead instrument that allows for harmonic interplay beyond simply laying foundations.</p> <p>So it went that <span class="ind">Normand</span> attached all sorts of devices to his instrument. He banged and stroked it in equal measures to set a scene that involved controlled feedback, performance theatre in the form of physical contortions in response to the sound, and a highly disciplined approach to noise making. This was enhanced to the nth degree by the mouth watering atonality of guitarist <span class="ind">Ryan Kernoa</span> who altogether dispensed with melody to explore bristling electrified string configurations which at times reminded me of <span class="ind">Thurston Moore</span> at his finest. When <span class="ind">Michael Norris</span>’ flailing tonal pitches on electronics were added to the mix the ensuing sound from the three performers was a welcome exploration of noise that improvised music hasn’t forgotten.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4612</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4612</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-09T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_201/" title="Pinta, Ni&ntilde;a & Maria"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/am_201.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Pinta, Ni&ntilde;a & Maria" title="Danielle Palardy Roger: Pinta, Ni&ntilde;a & Maria" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Luc Bouquet

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://grisli.canalblog.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), February 9, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “On vous souhaite une bonne travers&eacute;e.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Trois formations pour trois navires en partance vers l’Am&eacute;rique. C’&eacute;tait en 1492 et un certain <span class="ind">Christophe Colomb</span> n’y &eacute;tait pas pour rien. La Pinta est repr&eacute;sent&eacute;e par le <span class="ind">GGRIL</span> (Grand groupe r&eacute;gional d’improvisation libre). La navigation est lente. Les riffs de cordes sont saillants. On transpire dans l’entrepont. Les bois crissent. La tension est constante. La Ni&ntilde;a b&eacute;n&eacute;ficie des brouillages de l’<span class="ind">Ensemble SuperMusique</span>. Appeaux et bruissements &eacute;lectroniques ouvrent le bal. Puis, entre craquements et bruitisme, s’immiscent un zeste de rock, de jazz (Take Five cit&eacute;) ou de musique ancienne. La Santa Maria sombra le 25 d&eacute;cembre 1492. Pour l’heure c’est l’<span class="ind">ECM+</span> (<span class="ind">Ensemble contemporain de Montr&eacute;al+</span>) qui guide la gal&egrave;re. Les m&eacute;lodies sont au centre du voyage: m&eacute;lodies suaves et sans br&ucirc;lure ni brutalit&eacute;; m&eacute;lodies douces et rassurantes, n’annon&ccedil;ant en rien le naufrage &agrave; venir.</p> <p>Liant les trois parties, deux musiciens. Le premier se nomme <span class="ind">Juan del Encina</span> (1468-1529). Il est le compositeur de <span class="w">Todos los bienes del mundo</span> et guide de sa musique profane ce long voyage. La seconde n’est autre que <span class="ind">Danielle Palardy Roger</span>, compositrice, percussionniste, fondatrice et directrice musicale de l’<span class="ind">Ensemble SuperMusique</span>. Son d&eacute;sir d’explorer musique ancienne et actuelle, musique &eacute;crite et musique improvis&eacute;e, consonance et dissonance ne manque ni de charme ni d’atouts ici. On vous souhaite une bonne travers&eacute;e.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4611</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4611</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-07T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/victo_120/" title="Envoi"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/victo_120.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Envoi" title="Bill Dixon: Envoi" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Guillaume Belhomme

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://grisli.canalblog.com/">Le son du grisli</a> (France), February 7, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “[…] l’ouvrage de tra&icirc;ne est captivant, que rehausse en plus les incursions qu’y taille la clarinette contrebasse de <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Un mois avant de dispara&icirc;tre, <span class="ind">Bill Dixon</span> emmenait un nonette &agrave; Victoriaville, et donnait son dernier concert. &Agrave; ses c&ocirc;t&eacute;s, les musiciens d&eacute;j&agrave; pr&eacute;sents sur <span class="t">Tapestries for Small Orchestra</span>: <span class="ind">Taylor Ho Bynum</span>, <span class="ind">Stephan Haynes</span>, <span class="ind">Rob Mazurek</span>, <span class="ind">Graham Haynes</span> et <span class="ind">Michel C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>, <span class="ind">Glynis Loman</span>, <span class="ind">Ken Filiano</span> et <span class="ind">Warren Smith</span>. En deux temps, <span class="w">Envoi</span> arrange des parall&egrave;les et provoque quelques perturbations qui interrogent leur r&eacute;sistance: l’ouvrage de tra&icirc;ne est captivant, que rehausse en plus les incursions qu’y taille la clarinette contrebasse de <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>2011 Monsieur Délire Top 30</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=nouv-9831</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=nouv-9831</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>General</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_207/" title="Teoria dell’elasticit&agrave; di Girolamo Papariello"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/am_207.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Teoria dell’elasticit&agrave; di Girolamo Papariello" title="Mecha Fixes Clocks: Teoria dell’elasticit&agrave; di Girolamo Papariello" /></a>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_208/" title="Filature"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/am_208.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Filature" title="Joane H&eacute;tu: Filature" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    
      
        <p><span class="t">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</span> announced the Top 30 of its Demanding Music list which includes <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_207/" class="cat"  class="t">Teoria dell’elasticit&agrave; di Girolamo Papariello</a> by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/cote_mi/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Michel F C&ocirc;t&eacute;</a> and <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/am_208/" class="cat"  class="t">Filature</a> by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/hetu_jo/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Joane H&eacute;tu</a>.</p>
      
    
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
      <ul class="lien-list">
        
          
  
          
            
          
        
          
  
          
            
          
        
          
  
          
            
          
        
  
        
          
  
          
            
              
            
              <li class="lien">
                <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/01/le-top-30-des-musiques-exigeantes-2011.html">Detailed information</a>
                at blog.monsieurdelire.com
              </li>
            
          
        
      </ul>
    
  

  
    
      
  
  <ul class="radio-list">


<li class="radio" id="radio-cat_am_207">
  <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/radio/?poste=cat_am_207" class="radio"><img src="http://www.actuellecd.com/res/element/btn-play.png" />
Teoria dell’elasticit&agrave; di Girolamo Papariello</a>
</li>



    
      

<li class="radio" id="radio-cat_am_208">
  <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/radio/?poste=cat_am_208" class="radio"><img src="http://www.actuellecd.com/res/element/btn-play.png" />
Filature</a>
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    <item>
      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4608</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4608</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0322/" title="Year of the Boar"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0322.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Year of the Boar" title="AIMToronto Orchestra: Year of the Boar" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/02/2012-02-01-rampersaudshawmartinnealkrak.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), February 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “A strong record, both in terms of composition and interpretation. Recommended.”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] Assembled for a visit of <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span> in Toronto, the Association of Improvising Musicians — Toronto’s <span class="ind">AIMToronto Orchestra</span> has continued to evolve and is now releasing its first studio album. The orchestra is a 17-piece of almost exclusively acoustic instruments. The album features seven compositions by some of its members: <span class="ind">Justin Haynes</span>, <span class="ind">Kyle Brenders</span>, <span class="ind">Joe Sorbara</span>, and <span class="ind">Germaine Liu</span>. <span class="ind">Brenders</span>’ three pieces are long, methodical and often minimal — successful experimentations with the orchestra’s possibilities. Haynes’ two tracks are shorter, more whimsical and twisted, reminiscent of <span class="ind">Ren&eacute; Lussier</span>’s writing style. A strong record, both in terms of composition and interpretation. Recommended.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4609</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4609</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-02-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0323/" title="Halcyon Science 130410"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0323.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Halcyon Science 130410" title="Tomasz Krakowiak, Jean Martin, Wes Neal, Nicole Rampersaud, Evan Shaw: Halcyon Science 130410" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/02/2012-02-01-rampersaudshawmartinnealkrak.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), February 1, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Serious music, though not scholar; demanding music that never sounds forced”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] A strong free improvisation concert recorded in April 2010 in Toronto. Very fine interplay between <span class="ind">Rampersaud</span>’s trumpet and <span class="ind">Evan Shaw</span>’s saxophone — you could easily believe some of their lines were pre-written. The work of Polish percussionist <span class="ind">Tomasz Krakowiak</span> remains mysterious, his very subtle textures blending in with the other sounds. Serious music, though not scholar; demanding music that never sounds forced.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4606</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4606</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-30T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0321/" title="At Somewhere There"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0321.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="At Somewhere There" title="Wes Neal, Evan Parker, Joe Sorbara: At Somewhere There" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/01/2012-01-30-brunborghuke-michael-neff.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), January 30, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “A 40-minute session displaying a fine intensity and a few surprises, like the short appearance of a daxophone”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] <span class="ind">Evan Parker</span> is very strong in one-shot free improvisation meetings. <span class="t">At Somewhere There</span> features him live in Toronto with local musicians <span class="ind">Wes Neal</span> (bass) and <span class="ind">Joe Sorbara</span> (percussion). A 40-minute session displaying a fine intensity and a few surprises, like the short appearance of a daxophone if I’m not mistaken.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: D’Harmo by D’Harmo</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120127</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120127</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-27T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/dh_01/" title="D’Harmo"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/dh_01.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="D’Harmo" title="D’Harmo: D’Harmo" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    
    
  

  
    <p>
      
      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/dh_01/" class="cat" class="t">D’Harmo</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/dharmo_/" class="bio" class="ind">D’Harmo</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
    </p>
  

  

  
    
    

    
      
        
  
  <ul class="radio-list">


<li class="radio" id="radio-cat_dh_01">
  <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/radio/?poste=cat_dh_01" class="radio"><img src="http://www.actuellecd.com/res/element/btn-play.png" />
D’Harmo</a>
</li>


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    <item>
      <title>Listening Diary</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4605</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4605</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-25T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_15/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_15.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Fran&ccedil;ois Couture

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2012/01/2012-01-25-fortner-anderon-henrik.html">Monsieur D&eacute;lire</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), January 25, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “A nice recording with poet <span class="ind">Fortner Anderson</span> reciting and inhabiting his poems”
            
          
        
          
            <p> [Translation] A nice recording made at Studio 270 with poet <span class="ind">Fortner Anderson</span> reciting and inhabiting his poems (presented as excerpts from a diary), backed by improvisers <span class="ind">Michel F C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>, <span class="ind">Alexandre St-Onge</span>, and <span class="ind">San Shalabi</span> — almost <span class="ind">Klaxon Gueule</span>. Dark texts and creaking music.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Heard In</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4603</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4603</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-16T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0326/" title="At Christ Church Deer Park"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0326.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="At Christ Church Deer Park" title="The Element Choir, William Parker: At Christ Church Deer Park" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Kurt Gottschalk

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.squidsear.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=1401">The Squid’s Ear</a> (USA), January 16, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “There are moments of splendor just as there are moments of searching for that splendor. At their heights, <span class="ind">Duncan</span>, choir and instrumentalists find a unique beauty.”
            
          
        
          
            <p><span class="ind">Christine Duncan</span> has been working her <span class="ind">Element Choir</span> up in Toronto for a few years now, taking a large group of professional and amateur singers and rehearsing them in spontaneous composition. Allusion to <span class="ind">Butch Morris</span>’s conducted improvisations would not be off the mark, but she of course has own aesthetic and style. Beyond procedural similarities, however, both <span class="ind">Duncan</span> and <span class="ind">Morris</span> are drawn toward sounds which might be labeled “classical” or even “sacred” more than the jazz tradition which if nothing else arises in each of their choices in personnel. This is made plain in <span class="ind">Duncan</span>’s case on her most recent recording with bassist <span class="ind">William Parker</span>, who appears as a sort of featured soloist alongside her usual accompanists (trumpeter <span class="ind">Jim Lewis</span>, bassist <span class="ind">Andrew Downing</span> and drummer <span class="ind">Jean Martin</span>), all part of the Toronto jazz scene.</p> <p>Taken together the musicians and singers (some 70 names are listed on the liner notes to <span class="t">At Christ Church Deer Park</span>) could be parsed in a variety of ways. At times they could be heard as a setting of sacred against secular — the cover photo depicting an angelic chalk drawing on a city street affirming that depiction — with organist <span class="ind">Eric Robinson</span> joining the chorus in a showdown against the profane jazz band. They could be heard — as they seemed during their appearance at the 2011 Guelph Jazz Festival in Ontario — as a grand quintet with <span class="ind">Duncan</span>’s control over her singers being so tight they could be counted as a single member. Perhaps that count was the result of bearing personal witness, or due to the particularities of the performance or the embellishments of memory but in the one, 42-minute track on Deer Park they are willfully far too amorphous to count as a quintet or slice into any number of even pieces. There are certainly moments of jazz band and church choir, there are passages for soloists and there are surprising sections that come off as crowd scenes (chaotic, choreographed or Berio-esque). There are moments of splendor just as there are moments of searching for that splendor. At their heights, <span class="ind">Duncan</span>, choir and instrumentalists find a unique beauty.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4602</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4602</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-12T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/oral_40/" title="Points, lignes avec haut-parleurs"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/oral_40.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Points, lignes avec haut-parleurs" title="Quatuor de tourne-disques: Points, lignes avec haut-parleurs" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By R&eacute;jean Beaucage

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.voir.ca/fiches/cd/martin-tetreault-le-quatuor-de-tourne-disques-points-lignes-avec-haut-parleurs/">Voir</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), January 12, 2012
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Il s’agit d’un aboutissement pour ce type d’exploration”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Le platiniste <span class="ind">Martin T&eacute;treault</span> dirige et compose pour son <span class="ind">Quatuor de tourne-disques</span> depuis 2004, et on a pu le voir &agrave; quelques reprises &agrave; Montr&eacute;al depuis 2007, avec des membres qui varient selon les occasions. Il s’agit d’un aboutissement pour ce type d’exploration (mais, qui sait, le grand orchestre de tourne-disques pourrait bien surgir). &Agrave; cent lieues de la «citation», les deux pieds dans l’abstrait, ces tourne-disques se suffisent &agrave; eux-m&ecirc;mes (pas de disques ici). &Eacute;tonnamment, si on l’&eacute;coute &agrave; faible volume, l’esp&egrave;ce de grisaille bruitiste que produit l’enregistrement peut &ecirc;tre assez reposante, ou ennuyante, c’est pourquoi il est sans doute pr&eacute;f&eacute;rable d’entendre cela en concert, avec assez de volume pour ressentir le cœur du son. (3/5)</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrivals</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120102</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20120102</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2012-01-02T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/nuun_008/" title="The Dunrobin Session"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/nuun_008.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="The Dunrobin Session" title="Pauline Oliveros, Jesse Stewart: The Dunrobin Session" /></a>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/rc_90/" title="Revue & corrig&eacute;e #90"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/rc_90.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Revue & corrig&eacute;e #90" title="Various artists: Revue & corrig&eacute;e #90" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    
    
  

  

  
    
      <p>
        
        We have added 2 items to our shop today:
      </p>
      
      <ul>
    
    
    <li>
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/nuun_008/" class="cat" class="t">The Dunrobin Session</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/oliveros_pa/" class="bio" class="ind">Pauline Oliveros</a>, <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/stewart_je/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Jesse Stewart</a>
    </li>
    
    
  

  

  

  

  
    
    
    <li>
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/rc_90/" class="cat" class="t">Revue & corrig&eacute;e #90</a>
      by Various artists
    </li>
    
    
      </ul>
      
      <p>
        
        We invite you to check them out!
      </p>
    
  

  
    
    

    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4644</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4644</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-27T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1112/" title="Aberrare"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cqb_1112.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Aberrare" title="Bozzini Quartet: Aberrare" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Elissa Poole

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/our-verdict-is-in-this-was-the-years-best-music/article2283910/?service=mobile">The Globe and Mail</a> (Canada), December 27, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Our verdict is in: This was the year’s best music”
            
          
        
          
            <p></p> <h2>Our verdict is in: This was the year’s best music</h2> <p>It’s almost 2012 — so naturally, it’s time for a roundup of the best music that 2011 had to offer. Here are the Top 10 albums of the year (and the best in the classical category) according to The Globe’s music critics.</p> <h3><span class="ind">Elissa Poole</span>’s Picks</h3> <ol> <li><span class="ind">Ann Southam</span>: <span class="t">Returnings</span> — <span class="ind">Eve Egoyan</span>, piano — So different from the joyful minimalism of her earlier music, the late <span class="ind">Ann Southam</span>’s final works for piano, written for <span class="ind">Eve Egoyan</span>, are spare and haunting, inhabiting a circumscribed world where the expressive resonance of even the simplest musical element is questioned, and where resolution is always possible but rarely permanent.</li> <li><span class="ind">Hector Berlioz</span>: <span class="w">Nuits d’&eacute;t&eacute;</span>; <span class="ind">Handel</span>: <span class="w">Arias</span> — <span class="ind">Lorraine Hunt Lieberson</span>, mezzo-soprano; <span class="ind">Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra</span>, <span class="ind">Nicholas McGegan</span>, conductor — The now-legendary <span class="ind">Lorraine Hunt Lieberson</span> sang <span class="ind">Berlioz</span>’s <span class="w">Nuits d’&eacute;t&eacute;</span> in public only once, in 1995, but fortunately the microphones were there to capture that luminous performance, and it has finally been released. The orchestra may not be as suave as we’d like, but the singing is in a class all its own.</li> <li><span class="ind">Martin Arnold</span>: <span class="t">Aberrare</span> — <span class="ind">Quatuor Bozzini</span> — When is a string quartet not a string quartet? When it’s a string quartet by <span class="ind">Martin Arnold</span>, which is as likely to conjure a primitive consort of stone flutes or the musical ruminations of a medieval monk. Live inside this music for a while and consciousness alters.</li> <li>Poesie: <span class="w">Orchestral Songs</span> by <span class="ind">Richard Strauss</span> — <span class="ind">Diana Damrau</span>, soprano; <span class="ind">Munich Philharmonic</span>, <span class="ind">Christian Thielemann</span>, conductor — Silvery sound, beautiful diction and an extraordinary range of expressive nuance give soprano <span class="ind">Diana Damrau</span>’s captivating performances of <span class="ind">Richard Strauss</span>’s orchestral songs — many of them written for his wife, with piano accompaniment only — the kind of intimacy we rarely get outside of chamber music.</li> <li><span class="ind">Max Reger</span>: <span class="w">Piano Concerto in F Minor</span>; <span class="ind">Richard Strauss</span>: Burleske in D Minor — <span class="ind">Marc-Andr&eacute; Hamelin</span>, piano; <span class="ind">Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin</span>, <span class="ind">Ilan Volkov</span>, conductor — How often do we listen to a late romantic concerto we haven’t heard a hundred times? Gone are the memory cues; gone the baggage of the canon. And who better than <span class="ind">Marc-Andr&eacute; Hamelin</span> to make a formidable case for <span class="ind">Max Reger</span>’s virtuosic, semi-modernist tribute to <span class="ind">Brahms</span> and let listeners decide for themselves where it fits?</li> <li><span class="ind">B&eacute;la Bart&ocirc;k</span>, <span class="ind">Richard Strauss</span>, <span class="ind">Edvard Grieg</span>: <span class="w">Violin Sonatas</span> — <span class="ind">Vilde Frang</span>, violin; <span class="ind">Michail Lifits</span>, piano — <span class="ind">Vilde Frang</span> plays <span class="ind">Bartok</span> with astounding precision, but her performance is as potent as it is clear. Her instincts are also astute in late romantic repertoire, evident in her supple phrasing and tonal nuance. No wonder the music industry has its eyes on this young Norwegian violinist.</li> </ol> <p></p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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    <item>
      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4599</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4599</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-26T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_14/" title="La Formule Xyz"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_14.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="La Formule Xyz" title="Xyz: La Formule Xyz" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Frans de Waard

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.vitalweekly.net/812.html">Vital</a> #812 (Netherlands), December 26, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “An excellent release of fine noise.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>At cross-roads. That’s what comes to mind when listening to the trio disc of <span class="ind">Pierre Yves Martel</span>, <span class="ind">Philippe Lauzier</span> and <span class="ind">Martin Tetreault</span>. No instruments are listed on the cover, but let’s assume it’s a turntable and an assorted range of acoustic instruments and electronic sound generators. They are used to play improvised music, and so far nothing new. But the end-result is quite interesting: its as if these three men are attempting at something that is more noise based than is common in these circles. At a cross-road of improvised music and noise. Obviously not a HNW release but in a true experimental fashion a disc of intelligent noise. It seems all recorded straight to tape, with microphones picking up very closely the sounds that are produced, which makes this pretty ’in y’r face’ release, perhaps with the exception of <span class="w">y = cZ + d</span>, which sounds a bit distant. Things work best when all sound sources are used on an equal level, acoustic and electronic sounds colliding together in an infinite mixture of possibilities. An excellent release of fine noise.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4600</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4600</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-26T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_15/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_15.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Frans de Waard

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.vitalweekly.net/812.html">Vital</a> #812 (Netherlands), December 26, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “The voice is the same throughout and the music is all highly freely improvised.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Some entirely different is the music of <span class="ind">Fortner Anderson</span>, although its better to say the poetry and a bit of music of the person in question. We have reviewed his work before. Here a work of thirty-five short pieces, like a diary. Each piece starts with a date introduction and something about that date, along with improvised music of <span class="ind">Michel F C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>, <span class="ind">Sam Shalabi</span> and <span class="ind">Alexandre St-Onge</span> on drums, guitar and electronics. Unlike <span class="t">Six Silk Purses: The Poems Of Fortner Anderson</span>, this has however less variation in the execution. The voice is the same throughout and the music is all highly freely improvised. Some of these poems are quite nice, or even funny and sometimes sad (about a friend on chemo) but I wonder if I rather read the book (which is apparently also available, but I didn’t see it) and hear the music separately, but perhaps I am just not that much a poetry kind of guy. Or a CD single would be more in place and not one that lasts forty-eight minutes.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Jazz &amp; Improv</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4598</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4598</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-21T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/victo_120/" title="Envoi"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/victo_120.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Envoi" title="Bill Dixon: Envoi" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Marc Medwin

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2011/12dec_text.html">Paris Transatlantic</a> (France), December 21, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “The recording is excellent, the playing superb all round, and the result is a fitting testament to the musical universe he created.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>“You’re sitting in a cab, maybe going over a contract, discussing mundane matters; you open the door, step out, and you’re confronted by the universe.” I can still hear <span class="ind">Bill Dixon</span>’s voice coming down the phone. It was a pivotal moment, because it was one of the few times he spoke of the emotive qualities underlying his music. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to discuss his work, far from it! He would fill extraordinary hours with the technical underpinnings of his unique compositional approach, but seemed unwilling to address directly the characteristics of his work that evoked matters of the spirit, those aspects of his vision that verbiage would not contain. And yet such concerns pervade every note he played and composed. <span class="t">Envoi</span> is, in one way, just another <span class="ind">Dixon</span> composition, but the fact that it is his last performance lays on the work the burden of summation. Recorded at the Victoriaville Festival in 2010 and using the same forces as on 2008’s <span class="t">Tapestries</span>, it does indeed look back while maintaining the autonomy expected from every <span class="ind">Dixon</span> performance.</p> <p>As is often the case, <span class="ind">Dixon</span>’s universe is a slowly expanding one. There are moments of white heat, such as the big bang and percussive roar that opens the piece, and in the final minutes, a monumental crescendo brings the whole work into sharp focus, as was the case with Seventeen Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur. Despite these bursts of catalytic energy, much of <span class="t">Envoi</span> exudes calm and reflection that I can only attribute to age and experience. Nowhere have <span class="ind">Dixon</span>’s characteristic intertwining melodies been so beautifully realized as they are here by trumpeters <span class="ind">Steven Haynes</span>, <span class="ind">Graham Haynes</span>, <span class="ind">Taylor Ho Bynum</span> and <span class="ind">Rob Mazurek</span>. Clarinetist <span class="ind">Michel C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span> adds to the sense of uhr-drone that has been so integral to <span class="ind">Dixon</span>’s music at least as far back as “A Quiet Feeling”, and <span class="ind">Warren Smith</span>’s tympani almost sound like another string instrument at times. Most surprising, though, are the pointillisms that keep the music moving, the sudden ring of a single pitch on vibraphone, or a strategically bowed attack from <span class="ind">Glynis Lomon</span>’s cello or <span class="ind">Ken Filiano</span>’s bass. <span class="ind">Dixon</span> was too ill to play on the performance, but I was not prepared for how perfect “Shrike” would be as an insert. A brief solo trumpet recording from the <span class="t">Odyssey</span> box set, it combines long tones with dots of sound, recreating <span class="t">Envoi</span>’s aesthetic in microcosm. It is the perfect point of transition, bringing <span class="ind">Dixon</span>’s past into a vibrant present. The recording is excellent, the playing superb all round, and the result is a fitting testament to the musical universe he created.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: Solitary Pleasures by Fortner Anderson</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111215</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111215</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-15T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/etpages_avril/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/etpages_avril.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/etpages_avril/" class="cat" class="t">Solitary Pleasures</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/anderson_fo/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Fortner Anderson</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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      <title>Dec 8 to Jan 8: DAME’s Annual Christmas Sale</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=nouv-9827</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=nouv-9827</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>General</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-08T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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        <p>The holiday season is back and to help celebrate it <span class="ind">DAME</span> offers you its yearly Christmas sale! From <span class="date">December 8, 2011</span> to <span class="date">January 8, 2012</span>, look for the red labels to find more than 80 titles with discounts ranging from 25% to 50% off!</p> <ul> <li><span >Browse the list of “Red label” items</span></li> </ul> <p></p>
      
    
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  

  
    
    
    
      
        
  
        
          
        
      
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Heard In</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4586</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4586</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_10/" title="Ave &lt;w&gt;"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_10.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Ave &lt;w&gt;" title="Tiari Kese: Ave &lt;w&gt;" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Dave Madden

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.squidsear.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=1382">The Squid’s Ear</a> (USA), December 1, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Difficulties, delays and success: per usual, <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>’s imagination turns out all these things.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>There is a 99% chance that <span class="ind">Tiari Kese</span> is in fact <span class="ind">Michel F C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>; but let’s run with the mythology, as it’s as wistful as the music.</p> <p><span class="ind">Kese</span>, a Bulgarian piano prodigy, began his career at age seventeen under the tutelage of <span class="ind">Stockhausen</span>, the latter composing a set of Klavierst&uuml;cke just for him — and that’s Kese posing as <span class="ind">Stockhausen</span> on the cover of <span class="t">Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band</span>. He later became a world-class interpreter of <span class="ind">Satie</span> and <span class="ind">John Cage</span> (<span class="ind">Cage</span> also wrote pieces specifically to be performed by <span class="ind">Kese</span>). However, he didn’t begin recording his works until meeting <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span> who serves as a performer on, producer of <span class="t">Ave</span>.</p> <p>And he also plays the French horn!</p> <p>Fittingly, <span class="t">Ave</span> is a murky, organic concr&egrave;te based on shadows and slight of hand. <span class="ind">Kese</span>’s source materials consist of various room ambiences strung together with juxtaposition, piano and trumpet (performed by <span class="ind">Ellwood Epps</span>) that come in and out of focus (turn up the music during moments of seemingly inactive sound clouds and track fade-outs or you will miss something) and <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>’s shimmering electronics, his penchant for overdriven microphones and the occasional thump; the percussion is less frantic than some of <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>’s œuvre, but acute and intense like the sounds one would make while trying to claw out of a box. On the fourteen-minute opener (<span class="w">Unit Vector In Vratsa</span>), these elements weave together, <span class="ind">Kese</span>’s Debussy-esque planing (sic) and <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>’s mechanical piston sounds serving as signposts to tie the form together. <span class="w">&#x411;&#x43E;&#x439;&#x43A;&#x43E; &#x411;&#x43E;&#x440;&#x438;&#x441;&#x43E;&#x432;</span> is an intricate drone journey from light to bright to dark to midnight; the last word resembles the reverberation of a piano slam, though heard in slow motion. The hints of rudeness from the first work are exploited on <span class="w">Marge Brute Du  </span>: accompanying each piano note and chord is a slightly delayed, highly screeching burst of feedback to counter <span class="ind">Kese</span>’s tender procession; counterpoint ensues, a dry reversed series of notes and a fog you have to squint your ears to enjoy enter the fold, and the ostinato ends carried by the synthetic child of acoustic keyboard and feedback parents. From here, the pieces fold over in a palindromic fashion, culminating with <span class="w">Reichmann Sum For S</span>, a finale that pays homage to the opening theme, then filters it to the background to make room for a string quartet coda, everything eventually unraveling into a sighing, steamy hiss.</p> <p>From a horoscope blog: “A dream of playing the piano yourself predicts success in all your plans and hopes, unless the instrument was damaged or out of tune, in which case you can expect some difficulties and delays along the way. If you dreamed of hearing piano music beautifully played by someone else, it is a promise of better financial times ahead.”</p> <p>Difficulties, delays and success: per usual, <span class="ind">C&ocirc;t&eacute;</span>’s imagination turns out all these things.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Recensione</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4593</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4593</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-12-01T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/victo_120/" title="Envoi"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/victo_120.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Envoi" title="Bill Dixon: Envoi" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Daniele Camerlengo

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.musicajazz.it/reviews/609">Musica Jazz</a> (Italy), December 1, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
        
          
            <p>L’ultimo intenso respiro di una grande figura musicale vissuta indebitamente nei bassifondi del mercato discografico d’elite. Un mese prima della sua scomparsa il trombettista <span class="ind">Bill Dixon</span> si &egrave; esibito all’ International Festival di Musique Actuelle di Victoriaville 2011, assieme a una impressionante formazione di ottoni. Lo scorrere musicale altalenante e dal possente impatto emotivo, diviso in due sezioni e con un breve epilogo, ripercorre le fasi creative della sua carriera, la sua tromba, come uno scandaglio dimensionale, ci fa rivivere le ricchezze e l’evoluzione del suo linguaggio sperimentale attraverso l’abbraccio avvolgente delle cangianti stratificazioni armoniche. La conduzione risalta la forza e la potenza dell’organico trombettistico di indubbio valore, sorretto a dovere dall’energica sezione ritmica composta da <span class="ind">Ken Filiano</span> e <span class="ind">Warren Smith</span>. Purtroppo i problemi di salute di Dixon si erano gi&agrave; manifestati, costringendolo a pre-registrare il solo. Emozionante il suo discorso debolmente sussurrato, ma saturo della sua profondit&agrave; d’animo… Bye Bill.</p>
          
        
  
        
          
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: À chacun sa miniature by Bozzini Quartet</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111130</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111130</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2011-11-30T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1113/" title="&Agrave; chacun sa miniature"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/cqb_1113.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="&Agrave; chacun sa miniature" title="Bozzini Quartet: &Agrave; chacun sa miniature" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    <p>
      
      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/cqb_1113/" class="cat" class="t">&Agrave; chacun sa miniature</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/quatuorbozzini_/discog/" class="bio" class="ind">Bozzini Quartet</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
    </p>
  

  

  
    
    

    
      
        
  
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<li class="radio" id="radio-cat_cqb_1113">
  <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/radio/?poste=cat_cqb_1113" class="radio"><img src="http://www.actuellecd.com/res/element/btn-play.png" />
&Agrave; chacun sa miniature</a>
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      <title>Review</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4587</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4587</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-11-30T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
                    <p>
                      
                        
          
                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/br_0322/" title="Year of the Boar"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/br_0322.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Year of the Boar" title="AIMToronto Orchestra: Year of the Boar" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Ken Waxman

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://www.jazzword.com/review/127635">Jazz Word</a> (Canada), November 30, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Both the OIO and AIMTO attempt particular sound variations to re-define — or perhaps it’s to define — the parameters of large improvising ensembles.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Spurred by the world-wide conduction projects of <span class="ind">Butch Morris</span> and their results, improvising ensembles in Europe and North America have been organized to advance the concept of playing free music on a larger scale.</p> <p>Although there are notable orchestras in expected places such as London, New York and Berlin, often the most remarkable, and certainly the most original, large group interpretations come from bands in smaller centres. Working with a group of like-minded musicians in his hometown, for instance, British pianist/electronics manipulator <span class="ind">Pat Thomas</span> has composed dissimilar pieces for the <span class="ind">Oxford Improvisers Orchestra</span> (OIO) on this CD. Involving voices, non-Western instruments, a tribute to a Jazz master and a literal violin concerto, each moves in a different fashion. Toronto’s <span class="ind">AIM Toronto Orchestra</span> (AIMTO) on the other hand plays pieces by four different composers on its seven-track CD. However under the direction of artistic director/soprano saxophonist <span class="ind">Kyle Brenders</span>, who penned the two lengthiest pieces, a harmonic uniformity exists.</p> <p>Odd for someone who studied with <span class="ind">Anthony Braxton</span>, <span class="ind">Brenders</span> <span class="ind">AIM Toronto Orchestra</span> compositions, unlike his Jazz-inflected small group work, appear to avoid Jazz influences in favor of tropes from notated music and elsewhere. For example, a piece such as <span class="w">Thru and Through</span>, shoehorns wordless vocalizing from <span class="ind">Christine Duncan</span>, Scruggs-style banjo-picking from <span class="ind">Rob Clutton</span> into an exposition initially stated by quivering strings, harmonized woodwinds and stacked brass extrusions. Meanwhile tenor saxophonist <span class="ind">Christopher Willis</span> advances the theme as three percussions clank and clip alongside. With brief sequences parceled out among many orchestra members, it’s <span class="ind">Simeon Abbott</span>’s piano passages which mark important transitions, making room at different intervals for <span class="ind">Steve Ward</span>’s trombone guffaws, <span class="ind">Rob Pilonen</span>’s flute harmonies and <span class="ind">Nicole Rampersaud</span>’s trumpeting grace notes. As the often polyphonic work advances, it’s the restated solo variants which reference the initial narrative rather than showier tutti passages that impress.</p> <p>Similarly <span class="w">Follow Line Flow Line Follow</span> is built up from concentric orchestral timbres that foreshadow the contrapuntal divisions among the vocalist’s nonsense syllables plus swelling and vibrating slurs and pumps from the horns. Single variations involve bass clarinet lines, cymbal cracks, bell ringing and tough guitar scrubs, with a later combination finally modulating into a languid climax that trades previously inchoate hocketing and expanding runs for popped vibrations and near silences.</p> <p>Meanwhile the opening <span class="w">Year of the Boar</span> brings a Jazz sensibility to the proceedings. Yet ironically or not, its composer, guitarist <span class="ind">Justin Haynes</span>, isn’t featured on the disc. Operating off a steady vamp with heavy syncopation from dual drummers <span class="ind">Nick Fraser</span> and <span class="ind">Joe Sorbara</span>, the tune encompasses a swing section, and a lyrical alto solo from <span class="ind">Evan Shaw</span>. (…)</p> <p>Both the OIO and AIMTO attempt particular sound variations to re-define — or perhaps it’s to define — the parameters of large improvising ensembles. Although not everything tried is successful, the spirit of experimentation expressed by both will go far to make similar-sized groups viable as the shape of 21st Century music unfolds.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>En bref, quelques albums en journal d’écoute</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4588</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4588</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-11-30T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/et_15/" title="Solitary Pleasures"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/et_15.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Solitary Pleasures" title="Fortner Anderson: Solitary Pleasures" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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    By Maxime Bouchard

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://notallthatjazz.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/en-bref-quelques-albums-en-journal-decoute/">Jazz &agrave; cr&eacute;dit</a> (Qu&eacute;bec), November 30, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “La voix est juste, pos&eacute;e, p&eacute;n&eacute;trante, la musique post-industrielle, r&ecirc;che… tr&egrave;s bon!”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Intrigante proposition que celle-l&agrave;. Du spoken-word, tr&egrave;s proche de la po&eacute;sie du quotidien, petites vignettes support&eacute;es par une orchestration simple de musique &eacute;lectronique et acoustique. La voix est juste, pos&eacute;e, p&eacute;n&eacute;trante, la musique post-industrielle, r&ecirc;che… tr&egrave;s bon!</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>Critique</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4581</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=press-4581</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>Press</category>
      <pubDate>2011-11-29T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
                
                  
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/tdb_9004/" title="Fl&eacute;chettes"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/tdb_9004.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Fl&eacute;chettes" title="Jean Derome, L&ecirc; Quan Ninh: Fl&eacute;chettes" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
                    </p>
                  
                  
                  
                    
  
    By Guillaume Belhomme

    
      <i>in</i> <a class="out" href="http://grisli.canalblog.com/archives/2011/11/29/22840829.html">Le son du grisli</a> (France), November 29, 2011
    
  

  

  
    
      
        <h2>Text</h2>
      
        
          
            
              “Les fl&eacute;chettes que d&eacute;cochent <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span> et <span class="ind">L&ecirc; Quan Ninh</span> d&eacute;livrent un poison qui saisit en un rien de temps.”
            
          
        
          
            <p>Les fl&eacute;chettes que d&eacute;cochent <span class="ind">Jean Derome</span> (fl&ucirc;te, saxophone alto, appeaux et petits instruments) et <span class="ind">L&ecirc; Quan Ninh</span> (grosse caisse environn&eacute;e) d&eacute;livrent un poison qui saisit en un rien de temps.</p> <p><span class="ind">Derome</span> avait pourtant pr&eacute;venu du danger: maugr&eacute;ant d’abord avant de se ranger &agrave; l’opinion vindicative de son partenaire: <span class="ind">L&ecirc; Quan Ninh</span> qui vitup&egrave;re, frappant fort ou faisant rugir sa grosse caisse &agrave; force de caresses multipli&eacute;es. Ce sont ainsi des r&acirc;les tenaces et des drones insistants que le percussionniste d&eacute;pose au second plan.</p> <p>Contraste: maintenant <span class="ind">Derome</span> siffle. &Agrave; l’alto, il d&eacute;fend une intensit&eacute; bruitiste qui annule et remplace la gentillesse de son usage des petits instruments, que les graves profonds de <span class="ind">Ninh</span> avalent de toute mani&egrave;re. &Agrave; la fl&ucirc;te, <span class="ind">Derome</span> &eacute;voque alors <span class="ind">Prokofiev</span> avant que sonne l’instant d’une autre saillie: sifflements, grognements que domptera un lot de baguettes s&egrave;ches. Le bois dont on fait les fl&eacute;chettes c&eacute;dera sous les effets de derniers tremblements. Le souvenir, ravissant, est d’engourdissement.</p>
          
        
  
        
      
    
    
    
  


                  
                
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      <title>New Arrival: Nos enfants by YUL</title>
      <link>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111123</link>
      <guid>http://www.actuellecd.com/en/select/blogue/?id=catalogue-20111123</guid>
      <author>web@electrocd.com</author>
      <category>New Releases</category>
      <pubDate>2011-11-23T00:00:00-06:00</pubDate>
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                        <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/mam_013/" title="Nos enfants"><img src="http://www.electrocd.com/res/image.php/couv/mam_013.jpg?width=160&forceresize=1" class="catimg" alt="Nos enfants" title="YUL: Nos enfants" /></a>
                      
                      
                      
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      We suggest you check out
      
      <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/cat/mam_013/" class="cat" class="t">Nos enfants</a>
      by <a href="http://www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/yul_/" class="bio" class="ind">YUL</a>,
      
      
      the latest addition to our shop.
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<li class="radio" id="radio-cat_mam_013">
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Nos enfants</a>
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