Emile Parisien « Sfumato » Quintet (f/p) at Opus Jazz Club

French saxophonist Emile Parisien is a true jazz visionary. He may have one foot in that ancient soil, but his gaze is firmly fixed on the future. Le Monde has called him “the best new thing that has happened in European jazz for a long time,” while the Hamburg radio station NDR made the point of telling its listeners to give Parisien their “undivided attention.”

The reference points on Parisien’s personal musical map are very widely spread indeed. They range from the popular folk traditions of his homeland to the compositional rigour of contemporary classical music, and also to the abstraction of free jazz. And yet everything he does has a naturalness and authenticity about it. Rather than appearing pre-meditated or constrained, his music has a flow, he traverses genres with a remarkable fleetness of foot and an effortless inevitability....

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French saxophonist Emile Parisien is a true jazz visionary. He may have one foot in that ancient soil, but his gaze is firmly fixed on the future. Le Monde has called him “the best new thing that has happened in European jazz for a long time,” while the Hamburg radio station NDR made the point of telling its listeners to give Parisien their “undivided attention.”

The reference points on Parisien’s personal musical map are very widely spread indeed. They range from the popular folk traditions of his homeland to the compositional rigour of contemporary classical music, and also to the abstraction of free jazz. And yet everything he does has a naturalness and authenticity about it. Rather than appearing pre-meditated or constrained, his music has a flow, he traverses genres with a remarkable fleetness of foot and an effortless inevitability.

What is it that makes the simple urgency of Parisien’s music quite so enjoyable? How does he manage to combine a provocative and anarchic streak with such a captivating sense of swing? Anyone who has seen and heard him on stage will know: it is because he lives his jazz with body and soul, because there is an authenticity and honesty inflecting every breath and every note.

Parisiens’ new quintet had its very first try-out at a ‘carte blanche’ session at the Marciac Festival in 2015. Alongside his new band-mates, guitarist and rising star Manu Codjia, bassist Simon Tailleu and drummer Mario Costa, he had drafted in the great pre-eminence of German jazz piano, Joachim Kühn. Kühn’s long and distinguished career has found him in establishing working relationships with saxophone greats such as Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp. The age difference didn’t stand in the way of an instant creative symbiosis between them: as they traversed through free improvisation, found moments of coruscating energy, painted emotional pictures in sound, as they discovered the volcanic energy, humour and sheer quality in each other... the new project was born.

Sfumato, released on the ACT label in October is the result of what happened once this dream team found their way into a studio. Besides his close friend and musical brother-in-arms, the accordionist Vincent Peirani, another special guest joined the ensemble for the recording: French jazz legend and mentor to Parisien, Michel Portal. “An exhilarating genre-hop bubbling with captivating remakes of US and European jazz traditions. […] An exuberant album.” wrote John Fordham in his 5-star (!) review about the new release in The Guardian (GB).

For the album debut tour in December the quintet features Julien Touery on piano. They create a sound-world rooted in the here and now. This is music in which the untrammelled imaginations of players and of listeners can roam in complete freedom, and will experience the joy of new discoveries.

Tickets are available for 1800 HUF on the spot, in the national JEGYPONT network of Interticket and at jegy.hu.

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