God At The Casino

Description

Historically, there have been many variations on the line-up of a jazz trio. But as the piano-led model becomes somewhat ubiquitous any alternatives are more than welcome. Herman/Ceccaldi/Darrifourcq is a breath of fresh air in small group improvisation, as the uncommon textural palette created by saxophone, cello, drums and electronics reveals the maximum possibilities of what some might call a minimal set up. In keeping with the cracked die on the sleeve of the thought provokingly entitled album God At The Casino the group proves itself more than capable of applying focused force to break apart musical convention and expectation. The trio's performance can move from the delicate flutter of butterfly wings to the crunch of a rhino's step from one moment to the next. But whether in pianissimo or fortissimo mode the ensemble makes music that spins off the wheel of fortune.

Manuel Hermia [tenor, alto, soprano sax], Valentin Ceccaldi [cello] and Sylvain Darriforcq [drums, objects, electronics] are among the most exciting and original musicians to have emerged form the vibrant jazz scenes of francophone Europe in the past decade. Hermia is a highly respected Belgian multi-reed player who has worked in a wide range of styles, from improvised music to rock, and whose collaborators are drawn from all over the world – Moroccan guimbri virtuoso Majid Bekkas, Ivory Coast vocalist Dobet Gnahore and Portugese drummer Joao Lobo to name but a few. Lobo was, along with Belgian double bassist Manolo Cabras, part of Hermia's excellent trio that won lavish praise at the Belgian Jazz Meeting in Bruges in 2013.

A former student of the highly respected double bassist Joelle Léandre and cellist Vincent Courtois, Valentin Ceccaldi is a dynamic and subversive French cellist who resoundingly overturns the cliché that the instrument is only suitable for 'chamber' music. Although well versed in improvisation and classical music Ceccaldi has continually pushed the envelope to develop a style of play that is beyond genre.

In his hands the cello can convincingly evoke anything from a brash, harsh guitar to a graceful, lyrical viola. Having worked with such luminaries as Mederic Collignon [in his King Crimson project] and Eric Amrofel, Ceccaldi has established himself as a progressive player whose fine technique is matched by an equally fertile imagination.

Finally, drummer Sylvain Darrifoucq made a considerable impact on British jazz when he appeared in the project 'In Bed With' at the 2015 Cheltenham jazz festival alongside pianist Kit Downes and guitarist Julien Desprez, and his glittering C.V includes work with Emile Parisien, Marc Ducret and Tony Malaby. A classically trained percussionist, Darriforcq also uses an arsenal of household objects and electronics to further enrich the gamut of timbres that he draws from the kit.

Together Darriforcq, Ceccaldi and Hermia have created a group that is fiercely idiosyncratic and endlessly unpredictable. Whether ascending lyrical heights on 'Chauve Et Courtois', ratcheting up a dark and dangerously twisted hip-hop groove on 'Les Flics De La Police' or negotiating the more rhythmically fluid territory of 'Ho Chi Minh', the Hermia/Ceccaldi/Darriforcq combination is wont to gamble on nothing other than its relentless creativity and irrepressible sense of risk.