Michael Attias - Twines Of Colesion (Clean Feed, 2010) ****

Last year I praised alto saxophonist Michaël Attias' "Renku In Coimbra", a trio with John Hébert on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums. This album was recorded live at the same Coimbra festival in Portugal but some years later, and this time with Tony Malaby on tenor and soprano, and Russ Lossing on piano, to form a quintet.

This is modern jazz at its best, with solid themes and rhythms, with excellent improvisations, rich in overall ideas and timbral nuances and texture.The additional horn and the piano add to this overall wealth of sound, especially because of the natural sensitivity of both players, which is very much in line with Attias's own lyricism.

Pieces like "Fenix Culprit", which start with vibrant slowness, like heat hovering over a deserted road, yet gradually pick up speed and momentum without losing the overall sensitivity and core concept, really demonstrate the band's power.

This power is also the result of the band's willingness to be vulnerable and fragile. Listen to "Hunter", on which Malaby and Lossing get the floor for a long introductory duet of extreme beauty and sensitivity before the theme sets in.

On the downside, I wonder about the editing of the performance. This live performance again sometimes has applause at the end, sometimes not, which is a disturbing experience as I've mentioned before. One can also wonder about the last piece, which starts with a two minute duet between the two saxes, then the band joins for fourty seconds to bring the theme once before the track stops, as if aborted.

Don't let this spoil the fun.


PS : For those of you living in New York, the CD will launched at a concert next week, August 19, at the Cornelia Street Café. 

Listen and download from eMusic.

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© stef