Bell Tolls Variations; Fleur Revisited
Philippe Côté; Marc Copland; Quatuor Saguenay
Odd Sound ODS-21 (oddsoundmusique.com)
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In this release we have two different albums packaged together with the players themselves as the common theme; Philipe Côté, on soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, Marc Copland, piano, and the Quatuor Saguenay. The string quartet is the central anchor throughout both albums, with several tracks written for only the quartet, adding an interesting element to the material and keeping it fresh and varied. The double release is written as two suites.
With an opening sounding very much like a certain Arvo Pärt piece, we are gently led through the first album. Reed player Côté infuses his warm and melodic soprano sax sonorities throughout the album, keeping it just shy of contemporary classical with Copland’s deeply harmonic piano adding a jazz sensibility to the project. This is an album that is already so varied, it could be experienced either start to finish or popping up as surprises; most of the tracks are quite short and would be enjoyable sorbets in any playlist.
The second suite, Fleur Revisited (“revisited” as this is the second incarnation of this piece), follows a slightly darker, more adventurous path, with sonorities leading us through images of “a flower, growing on a rock in a very harsh environment” (Côté) and is an apt image for the times. Still edging between contemporary classical and jazz, this suite is more thematic and flows as one. A booklet of poetry by Lee Tsang is included with the CD, and the timing to take a moment to read poetry written to infuse the music could not have been better, giving me the opportunity to sink in and take a break from the isolation and too much news.
