Louise
Emile Parisien Sextet
ACT 9943-2 (actmusic.com)
Although Emile Parisien is French, and Louise was created featuring musicians from Europe and the USA, there is a small Canadian connection: Louise is inspired by the well-known French/American artist Louise Bourgeois who created Maman, the rather large spider located next to the National Gallery in Ottawa. However, the main reason to enjoy this album is its gorgeous, enveloping and at times almost languorous jazz grooves.
There are sounds and surprises throughout, like a clean and efficient guitar solo from Manu Codjia that, suddenly and unexpectedly, has some fuzz attached to it and veers off in a different direction. Roberto Negro plays a whimsical yet focused piano solo for the first half of Memento Pt.II which moves into an almost cacophonous percussion section.
This is Parisien’s 11th album and he wrote five of the nine tunes. His soprano sax playing is delicious, with a touch of Steve Lacey and an ability to hop lightly through one piece or turn a corner and play some serious lines in another such as Jojo, a scorching bop tune. To use an old school analogy, wherever you let the needle drop in this album, you will be entranced by the atmosphere and intensity created by this quintet of superb musicians.
