The Squid's Ear Magazine


Desprez / Duboc / Loutelier: Tournesol (Dark Tree Records)

"Tournesol", or "Sunflower" in French, is the trio of Benjamin Duboc (double bass), Julien Loutelier (percussion) and Julien Desprez (electric guitar), freely improvising in four tracks that use unusual techniques to create massively dark and riveting sound environments.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Julien Desprez-electric guitar

Benjamin Duboc-doublebass

Julien Loutelier-percussion


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UPC: 3473351000062

Label: Dark Tree Records
Catalog ID: DT 06
Squidco Product Code: 22149

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: France
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Ackenbush, Malakoff, France on Monday, January 19, 2015

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The free improvisations by Benjamin Duboc, Julien Desprez, and Julien Loutelier on Tournesol or Sunflower bring to mind the lyrics to "Love Dance," a minor crossover hit for George Benson in 1980: "From too much talk to loving touches/Love touches when pure emotion takes the moment/We take the chance/Turn up the quiet, love wants to dance." It's not so much the music that makes you want to cuddle up with your loved one, it's the hushed tone (unless, of course, you are Stevie Wonder and are taking a Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants).

The Tournesol trio is named after is the French word for sunflower, and the the outward appearance of quiet might only pertain to hominid ears. To other plants, bees, and grass, the sunflower is one noisy organism, like huge rotating radio telescopes fighting for the sun's energy.

Each of the musicians here can be heard in louder, more turbulent ensembles. Bassist Duboc with The Fish (Jean-Luc Guionnet & Edward Perraud), percussionist Loutelier with Stephen O'Malley, and guitarist Loutelier in Mats Gustafsson"s Fire! Orchestra. Here, the improvisations, even though quieter, are just as intense.

Let's call this screaming plant music. "Pour Que" opens the session with the electric hum and thunder rumblings of some very tight quarters. Its growth may be imperceptible to the unlettered, to us insects, the music portends an ominous event. Listening to this at high volume would certainly attract fans of Lasse Marhaug and Merzbow.

Besides noise, there is also an organic component of animation present here. Bowed bass fertilizes brushwork, and feedback guitar on "Nuit." The piece levitates upon the galvanized energy of the trio. From the restrained motion, the ferocity increases. "S'ouvre" is to rubbing, like glaciers are to granite. The players massage stings and drum heads into a blossom of energy, culminating in a sundown resolution. If plants could head butt, the Tournesol would knock you out."-Mark Corroto, All About Jazz



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Julien Desprez is a musician and performer based in Paris. Jazz and rock were his early musical loves, but they evolved rapidly to free forms where body and space find their places through sound. As his practice progressed as well as his conception and approach to his instrument, the music and space changed. He is now considering the guitar more like a battery, an organ, a modifiable instrument deployable at will. Through a mix of actions on the instrument and a play of foot on effect pedals, taking inspiration from the technique of Tap Dance, it completely opened the possibilities, sound and physical environment of the instrument. This results in a practice where body is engaged to its fullest.

Now evolving between sound art, performance and contemporary improvisational music, his work today is centred around all the questions that exist within a stage space, through body, space, sight and light, but where the sound remains the central pillar. Julien is also a co-founder of the Collectif Coax, a music cooperative based in Paris and created in 2008, which was recently labelled "Compagnie Nationale" by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. He's also played with Charlie Haden, Mats Gustafson, Jeanne Added, Edward Perraud, Thomas Depourquery, François Jeanneau, Louis Sclavis, Stephane Payen, Guillaume Orti, Benoit Delbecq, Tortoise, Han Bennink, Hubert Dupont, Rob Mazurek, Jef Parker, Frank Vaillant, Gilles Coronado, Beniat Achary, Noël Ackchoté, David Grubbs, Doug Wamble, Marc Ducret, Sylvain Darrifourcq, Eve Risser, Mederic Collignon, Magic Malik, Emmanuel Bex et Hasse Poulsen."

-Julien Desprez Website (http://shapeplatform.eu/artist/julien-desprez/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Benjamin Duboc is a very strong voice on double bass, born 1969, studied with JF Jenny-Clark & Bernard Cazauran, and has played with many great musicians (as Ernest Dawkins, Bertrand Denzler, Roy Campbell, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Sabir Mateen, Byard Lancaster, Daniel Erdmann, Abdelahaï Bennani, Michel Doneda, Daunik Lazro, Sunny Murray, John Betsch...). And also with Henry Grimes for a great duet in Paris. He leads the "Nuts" quintet with Itaru Oki & Rasul Siddik on trumpets, & Makoto Sato & Didier Lasserre on drums. He plays in "The fish" with Jean-Luc Guionnet on alto sax & Edward Perraud on drums (double cd on Ayler Records) and Rocks in the Sea with Mario Rechtern, Eric Zinman and Didier Lasserre. Benjamin has a beautiful and big sound, you really feel the ground while hearing him... it's somethin' ! He also is recorded on Amor Fati, Futura Marge, Creative sources, le petit label, sansbruit."

-Benjamin Duboc Website (http://benjamin.duboc.free.fr/biography.htm)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Pour Que 6:40

2. La 3:08

3. Nuit 12:41

4. S'ouvre 12:11

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Free Improvisation
Trio Recordings

Search for other titles on the label:
Dark Tree Records.


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