Sixth Jump, The

BENOÎT DELBECQ TRIO: The Sixth Jump
Songlines, 2010

AVANT-MODERN JAZZ – Wow! This French trio has a tight, gripping sound: Delbecq’s piano sends brilliant flashes of strangely-colored light over heavy, spiraling bass lines and shape-shifting drum rhythms that seem to move in all directions at once, often bouncing off otherworldly “prepared” piano. These pieces don’t move forward but rather inward, spelunking deep down into themselves. Excellent stuff!

Benoît Delbecq : piano, prepared piano
Jean-Jacques Avenel : bass
Émile Biayenda : drums, percussion

Try any track. Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10

1. 6:52 – supercool clockwork groove, angular piano exploration rests on top
2. 5:44 – wheels within wheels: outstanding bass solo & complex drum patter
3. 3:46 – philosophical bass monologue sets up moody abstraction
4. 5:08 – great drums envelop questioning piano and repeated bass riff
5. 3:49 – layered solo piano effects: deep, slow, and viscous like molasses
6. 5:30 – great mysterious rhythms behind analytical bass improvisation
7. 4:19 – cerebral: regular piano traces lines over fractured prepared piano
8. 5:02 – uptempo: churning rhythms, all three players have good solos
9. 4:02 – wide open: bass over spare piano & water sounds, trio interludes
10. 7:22 – tension: steady drum patter, refracted piano, bowed bass

[ Fo ] 05/14/11