Dominique Pifarély

Emotional and textural resonance is given on French violinist Dominique Pifarély’s vision of a coastlines-to-mountains journey convened by his strings-and-horns octet. Crucially, this Chamber Improv program is actualized because Pifarély cannily unites the strings, horns and percussion textures in such a way that emotion is matched with erudition and depiction is conveyed by instrumental facility. Known for his association n with Louis Sclavis, Pifarély surrounds himself with Gallic players who also circumscribe genres. Harmony still plays a part in the narratives here, but delicacy is avoided by, for instance, alternating François Corneloup’s baritone saxophone burbles and Antonin Rayon’s spiked piano key clipping with expanding pulsations from violin and the dual cellos of Valentin Ceccaldi and Bruno Ducret. Elsewhere François Merville’s swing drum patterns are challenged by bucolic flute flutters from Sylvaine Hélary.

While multiple textures can spread like soft butter on warm toast, challenging sequences add spice and pepper. Rayon’s droning synthesizer on “Radix” provides the continuum upon which introductory aviary and watery turbulence are replaced by unified violin-string stretches and basso pitches from the aerophone. Accelerating the exposition from adagio to allegro before recapping the head, saxophonists Matthieu Metzger’s and Corneloup’s snarls and snores confirm the track’s astringent modernity as do the synthesizer’s tremolo jolts.

Evidently designed as the disc’s major statement, the lengthy and concluding “Sans bruit, les voyageurs” provides more sonic voyaging than noise. While cello sweeps, fiddle stops and hard drum ruffs introduce the allegretto theme pointed counterpoint between Metzger’s soprano saxophone and Hélary’s flute trills set up interludes with the flutist’s transverse elaborations. Looping, twittering and polite tooting are cushioned by string vibrations with Hélary’s investigation of infinite variations harmonic without being cloying. Eventually Pifarély’s torqued spiccato vibrations lead all the players to horizontal rapport ending the track with a lullaby-like piano pattern,

Visuals may be lacking but Suite: Anabasis consists of enough sound pictures to be memorable.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Anabasis 2. La Ronde 3. Grille de parole 4. Radix 5. Sans bruit, les voyageurs

Personnel: Matthieu Metzger (soprano, alto saxophones); François Corneloup (baritone saxophone); Sylvaine Hélary (flute); Antonin Rayon (piano, electronics); Dominique Pifarély (violin); Valentin Ceccaldi and Bruno Ducret (cellos); François Merville (drums)