Le UN

Although it may be a misnomer to think of 25 individuals as one (“un” in French), this double dozen plus of some of France’s top improvisers have been doing so since 2012. That’s when bassist David Chiesa organized this ensemble. A celebration of its almost 15-year anniversary 25 pièces sans vide (“25 pieces without gaps” in English) is a three-CD set that plays on the band’s name and shows what it can do.

While this band of creative musicians is too sophisticated to lumber along like an in syn swing or symphony orchestra, what makes Le UN unique is how the expertise of each player can fit within the context of the larger aggregate. It’s sort of how the UN (United Nations) was conceived of in the first place. With a collection of six brass and reed players, nine string players of various kinds, three percussionist, two electronic-oriented players, two keyboardists, a voice person plus two which deal with action and motion, there’s plenty of space for paced innovation. CD1’s one track and the last one on CD3 are given over to a mixture of acoustic and electric impulses; CD2 is a mammoth exploration of wave form dominated impulses, while CD3’s first two tracks are mostly acoustic.

More or less expressed the same way, except “Brigade d’Intervention Legere PSM” – which refences Place Saint-Michel, the public square in Bordeaux, where the piece was recorded – goes even further by integrating field recordings of voices and ambient sound from the square into the mix, “Unite Nodale T4S” expresses the strategy at greater length. In spite of the accumulating whistles , squeaks and whirrs from electronic oscillations from  Jérôme Noetinger and Lionel Marchetti implements, as well as horn and percussion asides, it’s Sophie Agnel’s acoustic piano patterns which cement the track’s horizontal advancement. The pianist’s pumping glissandi and pedal motions cut through textures propelled by idiophone shakes, bell ringing and drum ruffs emanating from Camille Emaille, Benoit Kilian and Pascal Battus. That’s the same way earlier percussive keyboard work evolves alongside Natacha Muslera’s vocal asides and then join the singer in lyricism when her sound turns choir-leader-like celestial. Synthesized tension created by shaking faux-explosions and fragmented electronic shudders also pull back enough so that Nina Garcia’s irregular guitar twangs and Benjamin Bondonneau’s understated clarinet trills are heard. Smeared, sliding and sour brass projections plus bites, doits and vibrations from the reed players also make an impression. Reaching a crescendo at the three-quarter mark, vocal mumbles, trumpeter Christian Pruvost’s breathy lowing and the programmed hiss that ascends to dog-whistle-like squeals fades to a minimalist, broken chord harmonic assemblage with a coda of string buzzes and a drum ruff.

“PME Postes Fixes” miniaturizes, but doesn’t minimize this interaction, with the track featuring only Agnel, Pascal Battus’ so-called rotating surfaces, Camille Emaille’s and Benoit Kilian’s percussion plus Noetinger and Marchetti. The wave form drone may be as upfront as it is elsewhere, but rhythmic abrasions from the idiophones and the pianist’s upfront piano clusters, runs and sound board extensions add a reflective and minimalist patina to the drum rim clanks and hissing oscillation that would otherwise dominate. As intermittent keyboard pulses feature progressive tone alterations melodic cells ascend along with secondary processed electronic and percussion scrapes.

“PME Cordes” is almost all acoustic as it sets up a improv-concerto for three double basses, David Chiesa, Amanda Gardone and Rozemarie Heggen; two cellos, Soizic Lebrat and Aude Romary; two violins, Anouck Genthon and Mathieu Werchowski plus Claire Bergerault’s accordion and the voice of Natacha Muslera. Probably the pennywhistle-like peeps and aviary chirps arise from Bergerault’s instrument, while the ambiguous backing vocalese and climatic repetition of what seems to be the letter “R”  relate to Muslera. However the main focus is the see-saw contradiction and corroboration among high and low-pitched string sets. Bass strings especially set up percussion-like swabs, thumps and stops which are as much about invention as impersonation, while the high-pitched strings swell, jiggle and spawl with lyrical or jagged asides and inserts. Connected with a polyphonic swerve to low-pitched string reverberations and narrow fiddle squeaks somehow both timbres manage to conclusively match one another.

“Unite Nodale ESJ” which takes up all of CD2 and garners the most audience applause, impresses with its length and intensity. However its nearly undissolvable concentration on electronic timbres mated with string-based hums and percussion smashes makes exposition variations secondary to wave form drones, electrified shrieks and oscillated hisses. At points broken chord tonal ambiguity shapeshifts enough so that dynamics piece the solid narrative enough to suggest rhythmic and/or melodic transformation, but the impression left is of flat-line languid stasis.

Taken as a whole however 25 pièces sans vide is a distinctive representation of what Le Un can produce. Considering the tracks were created four and five years ago, it will be fascinating to note how the ensemble is evolving and whether more balance between acoustic and electronic elements has arrived.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: CD1: 1. Unite Nodale T4S CD2: 1. Unite Nodale ESJ CD3: 1. PME Postes Fixes 2. PME Cordes 3. Brigade d’Intervention Legere PSM

Personnel: Christian Pruvost (trumpet); Patrick Charbonnier (trombone); Benjamin Bondonneau (clarinet); Jean‑Luc Petit (bass clarinet, sopranino saxophone); Michel Doneda (soprano saxophone); Bertrand Gauguet (alto saxophone); Sophie Agnel (piano); Claire Bergerault (accordion, voice); Nina Garcia (guitar); Anouck Genthon (violin); Mathieu Werchowski (violin, viola); Soizic Lebrat, Aude Romary (cello); David Chiesa, Amanada Gardone, Rozemarie Heggen (bass); Camille Emaille, Benoît Kilian (percussion); Pascal Battus (rotating surfaces); Dominique Regef (hurdy‑gurdy); Jérôme Noetinger, Lionel Marchetti (electronics); Natacha Muslera (voice); Christophe Cardoen (light apparatus), Michel Mathieu (actions)