The Mule Posted May 28, 2003 Report Share Posted May 28, 2003 I was at the first set for the Martial Solal trio's opening night in Los Angeles. Evidently Solal hadn't played in LA in ages. Indeed, no one I spoke to knew if he ever HAD played in LA before. With Solal were Francois and Louis Moutin--really good-looking twin brothers who played bass and drums--and they were amazing, especially Francois on bass. With only a nod to the audience, Solal launched into an extremely intricate orginal. I have no idea what it was, but I suspect it may be from his new BN cd (which they were selling at the box office for $20!). He then focused on mostly standards--but a Solal interpretation of a standard might as well be an original as he completely dissects, deconstructs, and then examines the tunes from the most unique angles. He was constantly challenging his sidemen, with Francois focused on Solal's hands throughout as if he were trying to anticipate the master's next thought. As I recall (and I could be mistaken) among the songs they performed "Softy As In A Morning Sunrise," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "Cherokee," and they concluded with a killer version of "Caravan." Solal's take on "Cherokee" was very interesting and extremely playful with Solal suppressing little grins every time he tossed the Moutin brothers a particularly difficult bit to grapple with. Louis was great on drums, using brushes often and sometimes his bare hands bongo-style. Solal never spoke (seems he doesn't speak English) but nodded to the audience after every number. Decent crowd for LA on a Tuesday night. The Jazz Bakery was more than half-full and there were several critics and photographer's there. I assume there's going to be a review in the LA Times soon which should encourge people to show up for the rest of his run at the Bakery. Anyone who lives in the LA area should really make an effort to come out for this. Seeing Solal was one of the more incredible evenings of jazz I've had in some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted May 28, 2003 Report Share Posted May 28, 2003 I'm not suprised to hear this very positive report - and in the very grooving environment of the 'Jazz Bakery' on Helms, that sounds like one heck of a nice gig. The one time I saw Solal in solo recital performance was a jaw-dropper, a real revelation. Those big band albums (on Verve and Dreyfus Jazz Line) are also to die for - I've yet to locate the vinyl. Will also have to check out this new BN release, thanks for the reminder ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted May 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2003 Daily Variety: Posted: Wed., May 28, 2003, 7:26pm PT Martial Solal (Jazz Bakery; 144 seats; $25) Presented inhouse. Opened and reviewed May 27, 2003, closes June 1. Band: Martial Solal, Francois Moutin, Louis Moutin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By RICHARD S. GINELL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where has French pianist Martial Solal been all of these years? Plenty of listeners asked that question as the 75-year-old French pianist taught old standards some dazzlingly different new tricks at the Jazz Bakery. Old enough to have played, by his reckoning, on Django Reinhardt's last recording session in 1953, he has kept up a steady stream of recording activity since, but mostly on European releases that were always hard to locate here. That pattern is about to change, for last week, Blue Note released a startling live CD, "NY1: Live At the Village Vanguard," recorded one week after Sept. 11, 2001. Perhaps the main reason Solal has been overlooked is that he simply does not fit into any molds. For all of his bebop roots, he has grown way too unpredictable to be stuck in that bag. He could deconstruct "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" with single notes in the bass and wild right-hand runs, turn "Body And Soul" inside out, gradually lead us all around and eventually inside "Cherokee" or "When Lights Are Low." His solos were jagged, cryptic, a bit screwy, unafraid of dissonance, and his original pieces ("NY1," "Zag Zig") were filled with asymmetrical patterns and gaps of silence. In the second set, Solal's sense of humor ran riot; he would slip in sly quotes of Mendelssohn, Offenbach and Stan Kenton's "Artistry in Rhythm" (which is actually Ravel), or distribute "Tea for Two" into different clefs. Selections that seemed to end suddenly sprang to life and headed in other directions. This is a genuine original, a skilled musician free enough in spirit to trust and revel in whatever his youthful imagination conjures up. Solal's loose-jointed rhythm partners, the twin brothers Francois (bass) and Louis (drums) Moutin, picked up on every idiosyncrasy instantly and added some of their own. His stand at the Bakery may have been his Los Angeles live debut; he can't remember playing here before, although he recorded an unreleased studio album in town decades ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted May 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2003 The Hollywood Reporter: Martial Solal May 29, 2003 By Tony Gieske The Jazz Bakery, Culver City Through June 1 The great Martial Solal tucked into "Cherokee" fearlessly, and after a few bars it began to look like he was going to take you through everything that could possibly be done to it. And that is pretty much what happened. No sooner had the illustrious visitor from Paris stated the theme than he was off on a tangent, skipping through the harmonic shrubbery like Vladimir Nabokov chasing a butterfly. The first variation quickly turned into a gleaming fanfare, and that morphed into a breathtaking chordal modulation that took you back into the theme. The theme, by the way, never seemed to escape the all-seeing Solal intelligence as he reviewed the accumulated vocabulary of jazz. Now he rolled around in the bass for a few adroitly conceived comments, then across the keyboard with deft staccato stabbings, like a chef deboning a fillet. Somewhere in there came an intricately curved high-speed run as pungent and witty as anything Charlie Parker ever played. Yes, he had you convinced, and as he went on like that, through the great standards like "When Lights Are Low" and "What Is This Thing Called Love," you recalled his early career in Paris. Those were the halcyon days when he backed hard-core expatriate Americans like Lucky Thompson and Don Byas, two tenor saxophonists who could have taught Coltrane a thing or two. Meanwhile, the tempo of "Cherokee" had drifted out past good old four-four into free-form, and you realized what great things the bassist, Francois Moutin, was accomplishing, expounding equally fearlessly and equally skillfully in tandem, like Scott LaFaro used to do behind Bill Evans. Moutin and his twin brother, Louis, behind the drums, seemed to be a world-class rhythmic pair, though the blinding, astonishing, overwhelming, terrific and darn good output from Solal made it hard to pay attention to them. We're talking about a guy who knew Jean-Luc Godard, you see, a gent who scored the movie "Breathless," in fact; a talent who learned at the feet of Django Reinhardt and Sidney Bechet, a man who tonight, on his first visit to Los Angeles, gave you a performance on each tune that was as full of rich, curvy and thick layers as a freshly baked croissant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted May 29, 2003 Report Share Posted May 29, 2003 Yeah, I saw this trio in London a few years ago. Solal is a fantastic, fantastic player. Not being a musician I looked at it in different terms. It just felt to me like an amazingly wise old guy talking. Like you just wanted him to go on and on it was so engaging and full of stuff. I thought the trio worked well together. Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted May 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 Los Angeles Times: JAZZ REVIEW At 75, Solal is at his peak By Don Heckman Special to The Times May 30 2003 Martial Solal is not a name that will ring a bell for many American jazz fans. His relative unfamiliarity perhaps can be traced to the fact that, at 75, he comes from a generation of international jazz artists whose careers were impacted by a chauvinism directed at musicians who were not American-born. But the French-Algerian pianist long ago established his jazz credibility with gigs with everyone from Sidney Bechet and Django Reinhardt to Don Byas, Lee Konitz and Stan Getz. He has recorded dozens of albums, composed music for Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" and other films and, in 1999 was awarded Denmark's prestigious Jazzpar Prize. It is no exaggeration to say that Solal is the most artistically significant European jazz artist since Reinhardt. Amazingly, prior to his performance at the Jazz Bakery on Tuesday, his Los Angeles appearances have been virtually nil. Solal says he has performed here only in the recording studio; some veteran fans at the Bakery recalled brief club engagements. Either way it has been far too little, but fortunately, not too late. Working in stunningly symbiotic fashion Tuesday with twin brothers François Moutin on bass and Louis Moutin on drums, Solal offered an illuminating journey of musical discovery. Sticking mostly to standards ("Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," "Body and Soul," "Cherokee," "What Is This Thing Called Love?"), he transformed each into a new experience, deconstructing and reassembling the familiar material with an exhilarating combination of musical wit, imagination, virtuosity and swing. He was matched at every step by François Moutin's extraordinarily empathic bass playing and Louis Moutin's precise, supportive drumming. Music lovers — of whatever genre — should take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear a great artist at the peak of his powers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 (edited) Slightly off-topic, but how does the new record compare with the recent one with Johnny Griffin? Edited May 30, 2003 by Big Wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 I would really like to go see him live considering he might not come back anytime soon if at all. But my immunity is really very low from the chemo. I have had a cold going on 3 weeks now. I can’t remember the last time I have been able to breath out of both nostrils at the same time. Sometimes going several days only being able to breath through my mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 Mnytime--I read and enjoy all your posts. I hope you feel better soon, for what it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 (edited) Mnytime--I read and enjoy all your posts. I hope you feel better soon, for what it's worth. Thanks I appreciate your kind words. Hey Spicoli would really love being hooked up to my morphine pump. Though the rest of it he would not have liked. Like having IV needles in your veins 24/7 is not exactly the most pleasant feeling. To top it off my system keeps treating them like the foreign objects they are and try’s to attack/reject them. So it has to be moved every couple days using both arms and hands. If you where to look at my arms you would think I was either the biggest user or Miss Dracula has sworn off necks and is only into arms. The real fun part is trying to type without ripping open your veins. Ok enough of that. Back to the usual happy go lucky I love music posts. Edited May 30, 2003 by Mnytime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mule Posted May 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 So very sorry to hear about your situation, Mnytime. I wasn't aware you were getting chemo. Two years ago my father went through three rounds of chemo in one year and I understand what you're going through. The good news is he's in remission and doing extremely well now. Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Weil Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 Back to the usual happy go lucky I love music posts. Ahhh, too much happy go lucky and you'll go nuts, Mny. On top of cancer.. Simon Weil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted May 30, 2003 Report Share Posted May 30, 2003 Mule Thanks Simon I know, but I don't want to depress others with my problems. Though every so often I do slip and vent in my own sarcastic way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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