NEW WORLD

French violinist records an album for MPS in the Netherlands with an international all-star cast. Here we find Didier deciding to reach backward toward a more classic acoustic-oriented jazz, sounding very much like the music Stéphane Grappelli and the great European jazz violinists of the 1950s and 60s. Didier even goes so far as to cover several jazz "classics"--as if he feels he has to prove himself to the Jazz community.

1. "Vieux Pape" (5:19) opening with a sound palette and style that sounds completely acoustic Sixties, this Didier composition is highly melodic and richly-full with the busy, virtuosic jazz musicianship of pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen, and drummer extraordinaire, Tony Williams while Didier puts in a performance that would make him worthy for competition with the great Jean-Luc Ponty. Beck's wonderful piano play is capped by a solo that finds me thinking of the late, great Chick Corea. Lovely! Then Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen takes a turn in the spotlight and he's also quite wonderful--projecting lovely melody despite moving along the fretboard of his stand- up double bass at breakneck speeds. (9.25/10)

2. "Autumn Leaves" (5:24) a fully-jazz expression of the jazz classic (which was originally composed by Frenchmen Joseph Kosma and lyricist Jacques Prévoert when titled "Les feiulles mortes"--meaning "dead leaves"). Great performances--especially if you like high quality jazz musicianship. Also, I never really realized how wonderfully this song's main melody lends itself to expression on the acoustic violin. A kind of revelation! Gordon Beck's pristine solo in the second minute is so clean, crisp and yet beautiful. And Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen's walking bass line so perfect for holding it all together. (9.3333/10)

3. "La Manufacture De Sucre Engloutie" (3:50) gorgeous piano chord play opens this song--a composition credited to both Gordon Beck and Didier. Listening to this song truly is like being in the presence of humans possessed with a direct line to otherworldly beauty. I can definitely see how anomolous music mathematician Allan Holdsworth forged such a deep and lasting bond with Mr. Beck. (9.75/10)

4. "New World" (5:04) composed by Didier's brother, Francis, the ensemble really has fun with this one--especially, methinks, Didier and Tony. A great listen of impressive musicianship. (9.25/10)

5. "The Last Blade Of Grass" (4:26) the first song to sound a little like J-R Fusion with electrified violin, electric guitars, this song is attributed to guest fusion guitarist Jean-Michel Kajdan. Jean-Michel's performance is particularly impressive for its fiery dexterity as well as emotional expressiveness. Matter of fact, the rest of the band seem rather sleepy when set beside J-M's play: as if they're all stunned, standing in jaw-on-the-floor shock, as they go through their motions perfunctorily while Jean-Michel plays. In fact, it takes a full 20-to-30 seconds after Jean-Michel pauses for the others to re-focus and put some passion back into their own play--including the next soloist himself (Didier)! In the end, everybody gets up to speed and the song finishes well, but those first two minutes were extraordinary! (9.3333/10)

6. "My Memories Of You" (5:40) interesting that this Francis Lockwood-penned song title and sound, chord progressions all sound like a song of a similar name that would find its way onto Vangelis Pappathanassiou's soundtrack for the 1982 sci-fi film Blade Runner. This duet between the Lockwood brothers finds the one using electrified violin, the other using a standard grand piano. (8.875/10)

7. "Giant Steps" (2:10) an interesting sprint through one of the giants of jazz history. (4.5/5)

8. "Pent-up House" (2:31) a Sonny Rollins song that Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli made their own on which guitarist John Etheridge quite capably takes the role of Django, while Didier, of course, takes that of Stéphane. Quite a respectful and faithful rendering. (9.125/10)

9. "Zbiggy" (6:55) a tribute to the recently-deceased Polish-born jazz violinist Zbigniew Seifert. Perishing of cancer at the age of 32, "Zbiggy" had been an early pioneer of electrified violin sounds and an active member of the "free jazz" movement though he contributed significantly to the J-R Fusion albums of Volker Kriegel, Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróbleweski, Jasper van 't Hof, Joachim Kühn, Hans Koller, Charlie Mariano, and Glenn Moore's Oregon. Didier's song here allows his collaborators (Tony Williams, John Etheridge, Gordon Beck, and Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen) to also pay tribute to their lost compatriot. Kind of a two-chord high-speed, dynamic vamp that allows for lots of soloing. (13.375/15)

Total Time: 41:19

It's all great acoustic jazz--maybe "rock" can be tagged onto the descriptive referents, but it's really just jazz. To me, this album is more of a retrospective tribute to Jazz history than a step forward in the evolution of Jazz-Rock Fusion. At the same time, after repeated listens I've come to appreciate the absolute genius of the performances of these jazz stalwarts. Beautiful!

A/five stars; while not what I would consider an expression or full-fledged Jazz-Rock Fusion, this is without a doubt a wonderful expression of music, musicianship, and jazz of the absolute highest quality and must, therefore, be extolled as a masterpiece of music--general Götterdämerung-ed music--no matter what genre or category you choose to assign it to. It's challenging for me to label this "essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music" when it's not progressive rock music--it's jazz--but, since it's here on PA and we're all in the business of exposing one another to great music in general (not just progressive rock) I cannot let this incredible album go unadvocated.

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