VAZYTOUILLE

VAZYTOUILLE were a rather large 14 piece band from France who released this one album back in 2011. Some call this experimental big band music, but certainly jazz is the main sound here. It does drift into canterbury sounds at times, and some mention zeuhl which is a minor influence in my opinion. I keep this in my jazz section. We get 14 musicians and four of them sing as well. And those four female singers are fantastic. We get five horn players, two flautists, violin, violincello, bass, drums, percussion, guitar and piano. And the only name I recognize is that piano player Jeremie Ternoy who played piano on those back to back MAGMA albums "Riah Sahiltaahk" and "Slag Tanz".

It's almost 66 minutes in length with eleven tracks. And it's funny seeing all of these french song titles until we get to the closer which is the longest piece at 10 1/2 minutes and it's called 'Bill". Avant jazz stands out here at times as they go deep into that rabbit hole. So melodic too though as they really mix things up here well. Adventerous music including dissonant horns and angular strings. I really like how the flute is used on this record. That opener "Du Jour" sort of encapsulates their mojo here with those opening wordless vocals and a melodic sound, and then the dissonant horns kick in.

My two favourites include "Masay Christo(Part II)" with that urgent sound that picks up speed. Catchy with lots of horns. It turns uplifting before 1 1/2 minutes then an experimental calm with no melody in sight before 2 minutes. It turns heavier and slower around 4 minutes in followed by some killer guitar. My other top two is the closer "Bill" which I've already mentioned. Jazzy with vocals all the way.

I'm not usually into big bands but this just doesn't come across as sounding like a big band to my ears at all. A very impressive release that avant fans should check out.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Mellotron Storm
• Report this review (#3125812)
• Buy VAZYTOUILLE music online with PA partners
• Show all VAZYTOUILLE MP3/Stream
• Go to VAZYTOUILLE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Vazytouille page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for VAZYTOUILLE related discussions