The Squid's Ear Magazine


Blaser, Samuel / Marc Ducret : Voyageurs (Jazzdor Series)

Studio recordings from Loguivy-Plougras, France between Swiss improvising trombonist Samuel Blaser and French guitarist Marc Ducret performing on electric, 6 improvisations focused on sonic force, creative conversation and exploratory intertwining, finding mutual topics that fascinate and surprise both experimentally and lyrically; a well balanced duo.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Samuel Blaser-trombone

Marc Ducret-guitar


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UPC: 3521383468494

Label: Jazzdor Series
Catalog ID: 11
Squidco Product Code: 32351

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: France
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at Kerwax studio in Loguivy-Plougras, France, on March 11th, 2019.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"What you first hear when thrown into Samuel Blaser and Marc Ducret's joined performance is its fluidity. They very quickly acknowledge each other as if the sound spectrum that gradually intertwines came from the exploration of distant and common realms from which their memories arise. The fabric expanding with the textured tracks of the music that is instantly created, reveals the risks and the pitfalls of reassuring comfort. Above all, it tells us of the history of a relationship and of a longstanding adventure. It tells us of the serene yet complex beauty of a musical and personal journey taken together, establishing a deep connection between them. Sometimes, the underground rumble and the vital beat guiding us when we listen to the music, allow us to take some short breaks. Then the sound of the pouring rain comes beating down on the closed shutters of imaginary shelters. The continuum resumes its course, the dialogue keeps moving on, and we are captivated by the two artists singing together. They chat and shove, whisper secrets, hover above the "you or me", join in to extend the scope of the music, and then they move apart only to be later reunited. Now, one must slowly drift towards the end and move into the core of the sound whose texture increases in density. In the end, a slow song comes forth; like a break through the clouds, dark and bright at the same time."-Jazzdor Series


Artist Biographies

"[...] Born and raised in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland - a lesser-known but no less significant jazz metropolis which was, for a time, home to expatriate Americans Sidney Bechet and Kenny Clarke, as well as Swiss jazz trombonist Raymond Droz - Blaser has also spent considerable time living in New York City and currently resides in Berlin; truly an international musician, then, in clear defiance of boundaries cultural, musical and stylistic. Beginning trombone lessons at the age of 9, he "couldn't go past third position and had to have a trolley to carry trombone because it was too heavy," says Blaser. Still, with plenty of music in the Blaser household, where he was the middle of three children - ranging from Swiss folk music to American R&B and jazz - Blaser progressed quickly, entering the local conservatory at 14 and graduating seven years later in 2002 after receiving a number of awards in both the jazz and classical spheres, including the 2000 Benny Golson Prize.

Continuing private studies, Blaser began a number of significant associations, including the heralded Vienna Art Orchestra and European Radio Big Band, leading to a Fulbright scholarship which enabled him to study in the United States at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, going on to win the J.J. Johnson Prize, as well as both the Public Prize and Jury's Favorite Player awards at the 2006 Fribourg Jazz Festival.

All of these diverse accomplishments have ultimately - and inevitably - led to Blaser finding a personal nexus where disparate elements like Indian Tihi and Wagnerian opera meet. Blaser's impressive improvisational élan is predicated on instrumental mastery that is nothing more than the means to very musical ends. Together with his equally unfettered quartet, Blaser continues to expand the purview of jazz, redefining it in the new millennium as it enters its second century of existence.

Beyond Blaser's ability to combine knotty compositional form with incendiary improvisational prowess in the context of his own music, his unfettered yet ever-collaborative approach has resulted in a number of significant associations, among them his ongoing work with Swiss percussion legend Pierre Favre; a much-lauded duo with pianist Malcolm Braff; touring in 2012 as a member of François Houle's recent 5+1 group, and heard on the French Canadian clarinetist's Genera (Songlines, 2012); and recording/performing with Berlin-based Canadian saxophonist Peter van Huffel's HuffLiGNoN group with singer Sophie Tassignon. Blaser has also shared the stage with artists including trombonist David Taylor, bassist Michael Blake, drummer John Hollenbeck and pianist Hal Galper. It's no surprise that Rene Laanen of USA Trombone Online has called Blaser" one of today´s finest trombonists."

2013 will see Blaser touring with two new trios: one that, in addition to Marc Ducret, will also feature Danish drummer Peter Bruun; and another featuring French pianist Benoit Delbecq and American drummer Gerry Hemingway. Equally important, Blaser will also reunite his Consort in Motion (Kind of Blue, 2011) Quartet with pianist Russ Lossing, Belgian reed player Joachim Badenhorst, bassist Drew Gress and Hemingway, who replaces the sadly deceased Paul Motian. That record - Blaser's first and only to include a pianist, marrying the seemingly disparate elements of Renaissance and Baroque period composition with more open-ended jazz improvisation - was praised by All About Jazz's Troy Collins as " Fearlessly modern, yet respectfully regal." Collins continues, asserting that "Blaser's adventurous arrangements and reinterpretations offer the best of both worlds, enriching the raw impetuousness of avant-garde jazz with the proven sophistication of ageless classical forms. Consort in Motion is a high-water mark in the enduring lineage of the Third Stream, and all the more inspiring for the focus of its vision."

Meanwhile, with the release of As the Sea - like Boundless, a live recording but one culled from a single performance - Blaser reaps the rewards of greater trust and personal camaraderie built with Ducret, Oester and Cleaver through additional touring, following the release of their debut recording. "The music is quite different from the first record," says Blaser, "because things are more written. It's a little more complex rhythmically, too. But it's crazy, because I can play anything - a single note, even - and everybody will move with me. It's pretty intense."

Between recording and touring with his own groups and collaborating in other leaders' ensembles, Blaser's career continues an upward trajectory that seems to have no end in sight. "The world of music fascinates me to no end, and I´m determined to take one journey after another with my instrument and work," says Blaser. "It´s all about discovery and communicating new ideas. Believe me, I´m proof that a shiny trombone can send a message right to your heart and change your life." "

-Samuel Blaser Website (https://www.samuelblaser.com/biography/)
3/27/2024

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

"Guitarist Marc Ducret was born in Paris in 1957. A self-taught musician, he began working in various groups (dance and folk included), and in the studio, before reaching the age of 20. In 1986, he became a member of the first French National Jazz Orchestra. Also in the late '80s, Ducret led his own trio and toured Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 1991, he began working with Tim Berne and went on to play with Berne in Caos Totale, Bloodcount, and Big Satan. Ducret has several solo recordings to his credit, released on Berne's Screwgun label and the Winter & Winter label. In the late '90s, Ducret formed a tentet, Seven Songs, to explore music of the '60s."-Joslyn Layne

-All Music (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/marc-ducret-mn0000955833/biography)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. The Beekeeper 4:50

2. Des Etats Lumineux 8:48

3. The Next Morning 4:35

4. Dans Une Certaine Mesure 4:11

5. Morse 3:47

6. The Rain Only Drums At Night 7:14

7. Across The Mountain Forest 3:58

8. La Vie Sans Toi 2:53

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Duo Recordings
Recordings featuring brass instruments - trumpets, trombones, tubas, other horns
Guitarists, &c.

Search for other titles on the label:
Jazzdor Series.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Blaser, Samuel
Routes
(Enja Records)
Taking a turn into the Caribbean and the music of Don Drummond, trombonist Samuel Blaser assembled a new group with Alex Wilson on keys, Ira Coleman on bass, Dion Parson on drums, Michael Blake on tenor sax and Soweto Kinch on alto and vocals, with guest performances by Carroll Thompson, dubs by the late Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and a multi-bone section including Steve Turre & John Fedchock.
Ducret, Marc (w/ Martinez / Helary / Bopp / Ducret)
Palm Sweat: Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A frequent collaborator with NY saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, French guitarist Marc Ducret takes on Berne's compositions, at times in multiple interpretations of the same work or by merging pieces together, performed with the superb support of trumpeter Fabrice Martinez, flutist Sylvaine Helary, trombonist Christiane Bopp and Ducret's son, cellist Bruno Ducret.
Houle, Francois Genera Sextet
In Memoriam
(Clean Feed)
Canadian clarinetist François Houle in an international project dedicated to the late co-founder of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Ken Pickering, performed with Canadian expatriates, plus colleagues from New York City, Paris, Basel and Berlin: Marco von Orelli on cornet & trumpet, Samuel Blaser on trombone, Benoit Delbecq on piano, Michael Bates on bass and Harris Eisenstadt on drums.
Blaser, Samuel / Consort In Motion
A Mirror To Madchaut
(Songlines)
The Consort in Motion ensemble of Samuel Blaser on trombone, Joachim Badenhorst on bass clarinet, clarinet & tenor saxophone, Drew Gress on double bass, Russ Lossing on piano, Rhodes & Wulitzer and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion adapt the late medieval court music of Guillaume de Machaut and Guillaume Dufay into arrangements for modern creative improvisation.
Bruun's, Peter All Too Human (w/ Tranberg / Ducret / Toldam)
Vernacular Avant-garde
(Ayler)
Copenhagen drummer Peter Bruun leads a band with guitarist Marc Ducret, trumpeter Kasper Tranberg and synth player Simon Toldam, and upbeat electric free jazz album of powerful intent and compelling compositions performing melodic and insightful compositions, the band well acquainted from work on Ducret's own albums and with Samuel Blaser; recommended.
Blaser, Samuel / Gerry Hemingway
Oostum [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
A fantastic album of free improvisation between two creative and versatile players captured live at Kerkje van Oostum, Groningen, The Netherlands in 2015--percussionist Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Samuel Blaser--both using immense talent and unorthodox approaches to their instruments as they shift from unexpected atmospheres to lyrical richness.
Ducret, Marc
Tower, Vol. 3
(Ayler)
Guitarist Marc Ducret's sextet performs comments on the music previously played in the other albums of the Tower series, either as rewritten fragments or developments of excerpts or patterns.
Ducret, Marc
Tower, vol. 2
(Ayler)
The 2nd volume of guitarist Ducret's Tower project, an incredible quartet with saxophonist Tim Berne, violinist Dominique Pifarly and drummer Tom Rainey, complex and exultant, intertwining improv.
Ducret, Marc
Tower, vol. 1
(Ayler)
Marc Ducret's Tower Project, music composed as a rendering of Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Ada", the first of 4 albums, here in a quintet with Kasper Tranberg, Matthias Mahler, Fred Gastard & Peter Bruun.
Van Huffel, Peter / Sophie Tassignon
HuffLiGNoN
(Clean Feed)
Vocalist Sophie Tassignon & saxophonist Peter Van Huffel in a series of improvisations showing an intimate dialog amidst Tassignon's uniquely inventive vocal styling.
Other Recommended Releases:
Hevleticus (Samuel Blaser / Daniel Humair / Heiri Kanzig)
Our Way
(Blaser Music)
Crossland / Frangenheim
Basic Tracks Baltimore New York
(Concepts of Doing)
Nearly a decade after their first duo collaboration, Ape Green on the Creative Sources label, Wuppertal-born and Berlin-based double bassist Alexander Frangenheim joins again with Baltimore-based trombonist Patrick Crossland for two live performances of wildly creative interaction: first at the 2022 Livewire 12 Festival, then at The Record Shop in Brooklyn.
Blaser, Samuel / Russ Lossing / Billy Mintz
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(Jazzdor)
Recording in the NY Metropolitan area, this superb 2-CD collection of studio recordings begins with a series of duos between trombonist Samuel Blaser and pianist Russ Lossing performing lyrically and structurally interesting compositions from both performers, then joined by drummer Billy Mintz for a mix of original compositions plus 1 each from Blind Willie Johnson and John H. Mercer.
Ducret, Marc
ICI
(Ayler Records)
With a booklet of images showing the riverside location of the first performances of French guitarist Marc Ducret's sophisticated compositions reflecting tidal river flows & fluctuations by season, the four meticulous recordings on this album were captured in the studio with Fabrice Martinez on trumpet, flugelhorn & tuba, Christophe Monniot on saxophones and Samuel Blaser on trombone.
Ducret, Marc (w/ Martinez / Helary / Bopp / Ducret)
Palm Sweat: Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne
(Out Of Your Head Records)
A frequent collaborator with NY saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, French guitarist Marc Ducret takes on Berne's compositions, at times in multiple interpretations of the same work or by merging pieces together, performed with the superb support of trumpeter Fabrice Martinez, flutist Sylvaine Helary, trombonist Christiane Bopp and Ducret's son, cellist Bruno Ducret.
Blaser, Samuel
Solo Bone
(Slam Productions)
A magnificent solo performance for Swiss Radio captured at Salle Faller, Conservatoire de La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland in 2007 from trombonist Samuel Blaser, performing seven original, melodically inclined compositions performed with masterful technique and powerfully clear tone, along with an assertive reading of Ellington's "Mood Indigo".
Made in China (Michael Blake / Samuel Blaser / Michael Sarin)
Transmissions
(For Tune)
Originally organized for a tour of China, the "Made in China" band of Michael Blake on saxophones, Samuel Blaser on trombone and Michael Sarin on drums, recorded this album in Brooklyn, performing compositions by Blake and Blaser including a tribute to free-jazz icon Ornette Coleman, and Louis Moholo's "You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me".
Blaser, Samuel / Pierre Favre
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(Blaser Music)
Only the second vinyl LP of Swiss trumpeter Samuel Blaser's career and released on drummer Pierre Favre's 85th birthday, this is their second duo album, well reflecting the extensive collaboration and touring these improvisers from two generations of free jazz have made, bringing nuance, virtuosity and humor together through original free improv and two notable standards.
Blaser, Samuel
7th Heaven
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Based in New York at the time of this recording, Swiss trombonist and composer Samuel Blaser's quartet with Thomas Morgan on double bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums and Scott Dubois on guitar explore rhythmic and tonal approaches to improvisation, bridging modern compositional forms with traditional jazz in energetic playing of an engagingly relaxed mood.
Blaser, Samuel / Oscar Stranoy / Luciano Berio: Ensemble Songs & Sarah Maria Sun
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The project and ensemble "Songs" brings together Swiss trombonist & composer Samuel Blaser and pianist & composer Oscar Strasnoy, taking the instrumentation and concept of Lucio Berio's Folksongs and expanding it into Blaser's "Worksongs", a set of songs around Mississippi Delta blues, and Strasnoy's "Chanzuns Popularas Rumanchas" based on the traditional music of the Canton of Grisons.
Ducret, Marc
Lady M
(Illusions)
Taking on one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters, Lady Macbeth, in an 11-piece ensemble that include luminaries Liudas Mockunas, Samuel Blaser, and French guitarist Marc Ducret himself, using operatic form to focus his compositions on the emotional depth of his character, blending composed, improvised and sonic material into an exciting and unsettling work, drawing incredible performances from his players.
Costa, Mario (w/ Marc Ducret / Beniot Delbecq)
Oxy Patina
(Clean Feed)
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Spring Rain
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Swiss trombonist Samuel Blaser pays tribute to clarinetist and composer Jimmy Giuffre, in a quartet with Russ Lossing on piano & keys, Drew Gress on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, merging Giuffre's lyrical forms to create new and innovative compositions.
Ducret, Marc
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(Ayler)
Guitarist Marc Ducret completes his "Tower" series with a 12-piece ensemble including all musicians from the 4 Tower volumes, includi> ng Tim Berne, Tom Rainey, Matthias Mahler, &c. in 2 CDs of two concerts from their 2012 tour; innovative and astoundingly great modern jazz.
Blaser, Samuel / Benoit Delbecq / Gerry Hemingway
Fourth Landscape
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Trombonist Samuel Blaser leads a trio of Benoit Delbecqu (piano & keys) and Gerry Hemingway (drums & percussion) through 11 tracks that merge modern improvisation with conceptual compositional elements creating intense, introspective & intelligent music.
Ducret, Marc
Tower, Vol. 4
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Marc Ducret's Tower series continues, skipping a beat as we jump from Vol 2. to Vol. 4, in this live solo acoustic guitar release from his 2012 Baltic tour, where he reassembles and builds bridges to offer a new vision of the Tower's cycle.



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