This group of young musicians has put out an ambitious first collection of compositions, many of which show sophisticated writing chops, although the playing is a little cautious. I got to hear Ensemble en Pi�ces perform some of this material during their record launch in Montreal last year at the Maison de la Culture on the Plateau district and the strength is definitely in the written material, although they are all competent and imaginative players. With some time the musicians will hopefully display more assurance and push the envelop in their soloing, although the ideas they do present in Jardin d'exil are not timorous by any means.

From a Carla Bley-like "Ouverture" to the closer "Serpent �chelle" what dominates is intelligent horn voicings balanced with piano support and surprising structures. For example, there are poetic, floating lines in "Plaines," where after an airy piano-drums- and-bass intro, the pure trumpet sound of Andy King and Philippe Lauzier's gossamer saxophone blend suavely with rich piano voicings. Other tunes of note are "Short Story," "Alborada II," "Attendre ce Qui N'arrive Pas" and "L'Ab�me commun." They all have in common strong horn voicings combined with articulate, pleasing support from Alexandre Grogg's piano, Christophe Papadimitriou on doublebass and Thom Gossage on drums. Again these are all young musicians (although Gossage, a prominent player on the Montreal creative music scene, has been around a little longer).

There are 68 minutes of music here, material composed by Lauzier and Grogg, enough for different listeners to find things that please them. I could have done without a couple of less imaginative tunes which repeat ideas or atmospheres that are conveyed elsewhere (like "Alborada I"). But this is a promising first release that stands out from a lot of the work being done in Montreal these days.