Click here to [close]

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Vincent Courtois - The Mediums (La Buisonne, 2012) ****

By Stef

French cellist Vincent Courtois goes back to the times of his youth, watching the world and creating stories out of what he sees, trying to understand, fantasising and embellishing or fearing the worst. For this journey he is accompanied by two tenor saxophonists, Daniel Erdmann from Germany and Robin Finker from the UK. An unusual line-up yet one that works well to create this world of intimate feelings, with a scene that is each time beautifully set, cautiously presented, and nicely crafted.

The short pieces offer no time for real wide excursions and expansion, but just like short stories in literature a tension is created, a mood set, and almost naturally the listener gets expectations about the outcome, which are kept undisclosed, like enigmas that remain unsolved, open endings that will keep you a little off-balance, yet in the meantime you have had a glimpse of something new, something fascinating. The titles give some indication about this : "A Disquieting Disappearance", "Rita And The Mediums", "The Woman Without A Body", "The Night Of The Monsters" ....

This is beautiful music, very coherent and unique in its approach of sensitive smallness, full or warmth and wonder for this world that is both magical, mysterious and potentially dangerous.




0 comments: