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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
Fresh from the specialist contemporary French jazz label,
Mélisse, comes ‘Echoes of Spring’, a kind of modern take
on ragtime that evolved naturally from the famous Harlem
Piano Strides.
Here the characteristic ‘striding’ motion of the left-hand
split chords requires a formidable skill and accuracy. François
Raulin and Stéphan Oliva are the two pianists joined by
Laurent Dehors on clarinet, Christophe Monniot on
saxophone, and Sébastien Boisseau on bass.
“For a long time, now, we’ve saluted the great artistes who
have influenced us,” say Oliva and Raulin. “Above all, our aim
is to share our pleasure and find again that incandescent verve
of this rich period.”
Without lacing the music with drums, the quintet goes
down memory lane with some effective reworkings of the
remarkably individual styles of Duke Ellington, Willie ‘The
Lion’ Smith, FatsWaller and James P Johnson, to name a few.
Stéphan Oliva’s interpretation of Bix Beiderbecke’s ‘In the
Dark – Flashes’ gives a welcome and reflective interlude.
‘Echoes of spring’: François Raulin and Stéphan Oliva Quintet
Melisse,
MEL 666003 – Distribution by Abeille Musique
www.melisse.fr
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