Particules Sonores
Alain Bedard Auguste Quartet
Effendi FND174 (alainbedardauguste.com)
For the nearly 20 years, in six albums and numerous tours that have taken this ensemble throughout the globe, Alain Bédard and his storied Auguste Quartet have been considered one of Canada’s most prestigious quartets. Now, with their latest release, the ensemble helmed by bassist/composer Bédard explores the nature of particle physics and music. The compositions have been penned by quartet members Bédard, Marie Fatima Rudolph and Michel Lambert The quartet is comprised of these stellar, primarily Quebec-based musicians, along with Mario Allard on saxophones.
There are ten envelope-pushing tracks here, all at once challenging, innovating and thrilling, including Bédard’s inveigling Profumo Chaneleone. It features a visceral, facile piano solo from Rudolf and superb drumming from Lambert, while Bédard’s solid bass lines anchor what chooses to be anchored and propels the rest through this complex, modal composition. Also, Lambert’s A Goose Story captures both the delight and horror of fairy tales, incising us with percussive arrows and mesmerizing us with his dynamic percussion.
Another delight is the light-hearted Il Cappello de mia Sorella (My Sister’s Hat), which steps out of the stratosphere for a bit, bringing us a thoroughly lovely track, filled with the highest possible musicianship. Celestes (adapted by Bédard) deep dives into bebop heaven, replete with a ridiculous tenor solo from Allard and another dose of stirring piano from Rudolf. The closer, Bis du Gras Mollet (Bédard) is another example of divine quantum entanglement and the power of music-driven sound particles to communicate, calm, thrill and amaze within the organized chaos of jazz.
