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Pierre Favre: Bird Food
by Glenn Astarita
Captured live at Radio Studio Zurich in 1968, this is the earliest known recording of the Pierre Favre Trio, dormant for more than half a century until Favre and trombonist Samuel Blaser unearthed it while sorting through forgotten tapes. That it survived at all feels faintly miraculous, the jazz equivalent of finding cash in an old winter coat. The lineup now reads like a rough sketch of European free jazz before the paint dried. Pierre Favre anchors the ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre, Micah Thomas & Columbia Icefield
by Maurice Hogue
This episode of One Man's Jazz is loaded with music from new releases. Highly regarded pianist Micah Thomas drops a teaser of his upcoming Lucid , while trumpeter Nate Wooley & Columbia Icefield may have released their last album. A Silence Opens pays tribute to steel guitar virtuoso Susan Alcorn, a key member of the band, as well as homage to Wooley's mentor and friend, Ron Miles. There's also a tribute to percussionist Brahim Fribgane who instilled Moroccan influences in ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre & Sergio Armaroli, Andrea Centazzo, Francesca Gemmo: The Art Of Sound(s)
by Mark Corroto
It would not be prudent to overlook history when considering the music created by the improvising artists of The Art of Sound(s). As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: “By that destiny to perform an act / Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come in yours and my discharge." In other words, this 2024 recording could not exist without the accumulated experiences and creative legacies of its four musicians. At the center stands Swiss drummer Pierre Favre, ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre Ensemble: Le Voyage
by Nic Jones
Pierre Favre is a scion of the improvisation scene in Europe and beyond. There's always been a reflective element in his drum and percussion work that suggests a slightly conservative disposition which has been manifested in a kind of politeness and reticence. Those two qualities in many respects sum up the music on this disc. While the antithesis of those qualities does not necessarily make for compelling music, in this case of this recording the overall mood is slightly soporific, ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre: Albatros
by Glenn Astarita
Renowned Swiss drummer Pierre Favre imparts his kaleidoscopic tonal palette into these intricately exercised and probing duets with fellow countryman, guitarist Philipp Schaufelberger. The musicians cover a gamut of twists, turns and subtle theme building maneuvers, including airy environs and an abundance of tradeoffs. Moreover, Favre balances out the set with structured patterns and asymmetrical rhythms in concert with his melodic fills. “Seeing" presents an ambient vista, with Favre's delicate drumming and soft cymbal hits offering a ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre / Philipp Schaufelberger: Albatros
by Nic Jones
A sense of “music-minus-one" is pretty pervasive on Albatros. Regardless of what instrument is played, the presence of an additional musician might have elevated the music and the discourse from which it springs, to a more ear-catching level than that attained by this configuration of musicians. As it is, this duo of guitar and drums is marked by perfunctory air. The waddling progress of “Pino Caro" seems faintly contrived, while “Seeing"--all three-and-a-half minutes of it--is heavy with ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre / Samuel Blaser: Vol A Voile
by Nic Jones
On one level, this program of trombone and drums duets possesses very little in the way of the sound of surprise, once the ear becomes accustomed to the sparseness of the lineup. Perhaps inevitably, this means that for all their obvious empathy, the musicians don't really grab the moment, nor do they ruffle the surface calm of the music they make. In view of the promise sometimes tantalizingly shown, this makes for a frustrating listen. Of the ...
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