reference number : J2059
release date : 06/01/2014
release date : 06/01/2014
about this album
JASS as in John, Alban, Samuel, Sébastien. Or as in jass, a centuries-old card game for four players, also called chibre, that is popular to this day in Switzerland and in the Austrian region of Voralberg. Or also as in jass, the term used by the Original Dixieland Jass Band lead by Nick La Rocca in March 1917 for the very first jazz-album recording.*
Thus Jass can be viewed as a semantic connection of little importance or simply an amusing etymological coincidence.
One might also suppose that some perceptive intuition, chance encounters and unplanned events such as Alban Darche’s admiration for John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet and his fortuitious meeting with their drummer, the development of a real bond between Samuel Blaser and Sebastien Boisseau or the playfulness shared by the four protagonists have guided them to reveal an aesthetic glee generated by a music both modern and deeply rooted in jazz history. A music that is eminently collective, that is expertly composed but yet its natural flow allows the meaning to emerge as much in the silences as in the musical motif wrought from listening to each other’s ideas and feelings.
A first concert in Berlin in July 2011 and later, an artist's residency in Nantes in January 2012 (where the current album was recorded ) were sufficient for these four highly demanding musicians to create, in such a natural fashion, a striking sequence of original themes whilst maintaining the group performance at its heart, whilst keeping in check demands of organisation and balance in order to allow free-flowing elements of interference, of effervescence, of intoxication and yet avoiding being side-tracked on an excess or effusiveness.
As compact and well-constructed as it appears, this music cannot be easily encapsulated by one single interpretation. It invites the listener to create one’s own impression derived from the different alternatives suggested by it’s framework and networked connections which suggest that at any moment anything is possible. The precise attention given to the form of each piece and the constant concern for a clear structure are a fertile basis for the melodic voice and the many micro-narratives which intertwine consistently on a palette of incandescent chromatics.
Bernard Aimé
translation by Catherine O'Mahony
*The dictionnary of jazz informs us that jass (or jazz) is generally associated with dance, with vitality and with the sexual act. “Chibre” is an old slang word though still used in the 20th century (by Jean Genet for example) that refers to the male organ, There is, however, no reason to speculate about the potential eroticism of the music created by JASS !
__________________________
Jazzdor Berlin 2013: Berlin, Germany, June 5-8, 2013
www.allaboutjazz.com
Live Reviews :
"A new ensemble called J.A.S.S.: the "J" of drummer John Hollenbeck, the "A" of saxophonist Alban Darche, the "S" of trombonist Samuel Blaser and the "S" of bassist Sébastian Boisseau. The group's music was full of references to musical mastermind Steve Coleman, rich of color and grounded inner grooves. Boisseau often played his bass like a guimbri in Gnawa music, while Hollenbeck used the space to intermingle airy Brazilian percussion. The two horns were powerful and sophisticated, but also funny, and never overstated. It was the intelligent tripping of a group with its very own signature, which still has more of it in the can."
Thus Jass can be viewed as a semantic connection of little importance or simply an amusing etymological coincidence.
One might also suppose that some perceptive intuition, chance encounters and unplanned events such as Alban Darche’s admiration for John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet and his fortuitious meeting with their drummer, the development of a real bond between Samuel Blaser and Sebastien Boisseau or the playfulness shared by the four protagonists have guided them to reveal an aesthetic glee generated by a music both modern and deeply rooted in jazz history. A music that is eminently collective, that is expertly composed but yet its natural flow allows the meaning to emerge as much in the silences as in the musical motif wrought from listening to each other’s ideas and feelings.
A first concert in Berlin in July 2011 and later, an artist's residency in Nantes in January 2012 (where the current album was recorded ) were sufficient for these four highly demanding musicians to create, in such a natural fashion, a striking sequence of original themes whilst maintaining the group performance at its heart, whilst keeping in check demands of organisation and balance in order to allow free-flowing elements of interference, of effervescence, of intoxication and yet avoiding being side-tracked on an excess or effusiveness.
As compact and well-constructed as it appears, this music cannot be easily encapsulated by one single interpretation. It invites the listener to create one’s own impression derived from the different alternatives suggested by it’s framework and networked connections which suggest that at any moment anything is possible. The precise attention given to the form of each piece and the constant concern for a clear structure are a fertile basis for the melodic voice and the many micro-narratives which intertwine consistently on a palette of incandescent chromatics.
Bernard Aimé
translation by Catherine O'Mahony
*The dictionnary of jazz informs us that jass (or jazz) is generally associated with dance, with vitality and with the sexual act. “Chibre” is an old slang word though still used in the 20th century (by Jean Genet for example) that refers to the male organ, There is, however, no reason to speculate about the potential eroticism of the music created by JASS !
__________________________
Jazzdor Berlin 2013: Berlin, Germany, June 5-8, 2013
www.allaboutjazz.com
Live Reviews :
"A new ensemble called J.A.S.S.: the "J" of drummer John Hollenbeck, the "A" of saxophonist Alban Darche, the "S" of trombonist Samuel Blaser and the "S" of bassist Sébastian Boisseau. The group's music was full of references to musical mastermind Steve Coleman, rich of color and grounded inner grooves. Boisseau often played his bass like a guimbri in Gnawa music, while Hollenbeck used the space to intermingle airy Brazilian percussion. The two horns were powerful and sophisticated, but also funny, and never overstated. It was the intelligent tripping of a group with its very own signature, which still has more of it in the can."
press
tracklist
1- recurring dreams (s. blaser) 4:54
2- saj's (a. darche) 3:07
3- jazz envy (j. hollenbeck) 5:26
4- water (a. darche) 5:35
5- limp mint (j. hollenbeck) 6:37
6- driving license (a. darche) 5:45
7- no D (j. hollenbeck) 6:15
8- miss univers 2031 (a. darche) 4:49
9- it began to get dark (s.blaser) 3:25
10- tricephale (a. darche) 3:24
recorded in the afternoon of 27/01/2012 by olivier ménard
mastering : pierre vandewaeter
2- saj's (a. darche) 3:07
3- jazz envy (j. hollenbeck) 5:26
4- water (a. darche) 5:35
5- limp mint (j. hollenbeck) 6:37
6- driving license (a. darche) 5:45
7- no D (j. hollenbeck) 6:15
8- miss univers 2031 (a. darche) 4:49
9- it began to get dark (s.blaser) 3:25
10- tricephale (a. darche) 3:24
recorded in the afternoon of 27/01/2012 by olivier ménard
mastering : pierre vandewaeter
Connexions
other works with Samuel Blaser
JASS >> mix of sun and cloudsJean-Christophe Cholet - Alban Darche - Mathias Ruëgg >> Le tombeau de Poulenc
PACIFIC >> PACIFIC
Le Gros Cube #2 >>
Le Gros Cube #2 >> Histoire sans paroles
other works with Sébastien Boisseau
UNIT >> wavin'Le Gros Cube >> La martipontine
Le Cube >> Le Thé
Le Gros Cube >> LE PAX, Le Gros Cube VS Katerine
Le Gros Cube >> Polar mood
Le Cube >> Autorité Culinaire
Triade >> japan edition
Triade >> l'ardu
A suivre... x'tet >> paris-calvance
A suivre... x'tet >> variations alterees
Hazebrouck sextet >> frasques
D. Casimir & Yolk en cuisine >> Phonotaxis ou le génome de la vache
Le Cube >> Frelon Rouge
Wood (boisseau-donarier) >> WOOD
Le Gros Cube >> Queen bishop
Orphicube >> perception instantanée
Alban Darche hyprcub >> Crooked House
La Musique de Salon >> 1 salon, 2 musiciens
JASS >> mix of sun and clouds
Orphicube >> Atomic Flonflons
Orbit >> Orbit
Clover >> Vert Emeraude
Le Gros Cube #2 >>
Clover >> Paradigme
Le Gros Cube #2 >> Histoire sans paroles
David Chevallier quartet >> Curiosity
Orbit >> In-visibility
Jean-Paul Delore, Louis Sclavis, Sébastien Boisseau >> Langues et lueurs
other works with Alban Darche
Le Cube >> Le ThéLe Gros Cube >> La martipontine
Le Gros Cube >> LE PAX, Le Gros Cube VS Katerine
Le Gros Cube >> Polar mood
Le Cube >> Autorité Culinaire
Quartethno >> quartethno
OLH Acoustic >> une vie sans lune
Jazzophone quartet >> blues for geo
Jazzophone cie + Tim Berne >> mosaiques
Qüntêt >> on the road enfin...
OLH Acoustic >> G. meets K.
Jazzophone >> yellow suite
Alban Darche trio >> trickster
Qüntêt >> vents dominants
Alban Darche trio >> brut ou demi sec?
D. Casimir & Yolk en cuisine >> Phonotaxis ou le génome de la vache
Quartethno >> tawada
Le Cube >> Frelon Rouge
Le Gros Cube >> Queen bishop
Orphicube >> perception instantanée
Le Gros Cube #2 >> Histoire sans paroles
Alban Darche hyprcub >> Crooked House
Qüntêt featuring Desdamona >> Mots croisés/ Crosswords
JASS >> mix of sun and clouds
Orphicube >> Atomic Flonflons
Jean-Christophe Cholet - Alban Darche - Mathias Ruëgg >> Le tombeau de Poulenc
Clover >> Vert Emeraude
PACIFIC >> PACIFIC
Longboard >> Being wild
Le Gros Cube #2 >>
Clover >> Paradigme
Dandy Dandie >> Hypnos & Morphée
Alban Darche et Loïs Le Van >> Les mots bleus
Alban Darche et Loïs Le Van >> Lazy Afternoon
other works with John Hollenbeck
JASS >> mix of sun and clouds