Format: CD
Barcode: 0608917146127
Releasedate: 09-05-25
- International jazz quartet from Luxembourg meets top guitarist from Madagascar
- Dynamic collaboration: "World jazz" with Malagasy guitarist
What happens to the identity of a band when it is extended by a musician with a distinct style of his own? When pianist Arthur Possing considered working with guitarist Joel Rabesolo, he had the right instinct. In the best case, he understood that his band would preserve and develop their established identity as well as gain additional nuances and a new creative "layer” thanks to the new member. That's exactly what happened. The carefully arranged connection between the international Arthur Possing Quartet from Luxembourg and Joel Rabesolo from Madagascar is a real stroke of luck, as the joint album Homes demonstrates. It is no coincidence that it almost overflows with captivating pieces and diverse music during approximately 70 minutes of playing time. Four compositions by the leader, plus three each by saxophonist/flutist Pierre Cocq-Amann and Joel Rabesolo: this is the essence of an extensive selection that the quintet worked out and achieved before and during an intensive time in the studio. Instead of a random of tracks, the combination of pieces is designed to create a concise whole. As a result, Homes becomes a real listening journey.
The Arthur Possing Quartet first performed in 2013. The pianist, who comes from a family of musicians and switched to the piano after initially taking drum lessons, was just 17 at the time and already composed his own pieces. During his years at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, where he was promoted by jazz luminary Eric Legnini, the quartet developed their own sound and character. The album debut Four Years was released in 2018. Natural Flow followed on a Double Moon release in 2021; trumpeter Thomas Mayade played on some of the pieces. With the piano album Id:entity in 2023, also released on Double Moon, Possing took the challenge of playing solo. That still has an effect on him. "It gave me the chance to develop as a pianist, technically and in expression. I also felt this development very strongly in this new production."
However, he emphasized that his musical home is still the quartet. "When I start composing, I first think of the group. I feel comfortable there, and all the influences that have shaped me come together in a special way." But what is also important to him is a kind of collective spirit, open-minded collaboration and joint experimentation. This has also contributed to the fact that the group forms a real unit with a distinctive sound and its own orientation. Saxophonist/flutist Pierre Cocq-Amann is French, bassist Sebastian Flach German, Possing and Engel are Luxembourgers. Three of the four live in Luxembourg, and Cocq-Amann lives just across the border in France. Arthur Possing is the son of a Luxembourger and a German. He lives in Echternach directly adjacent to the German border.
The pianist first heard Joel Rabesolo's guitar in the corridors along the rehearsal rooms of the Conservatory in Brussels, then at sessions and in smaller concerts. "Everyone told me about him back then." Rabesolo comes from a town in the province of Antananarivo, Madagascar. He taught himself the basics as a guitarist there. And he discovered jazz for himself, among other styles of music. Rabesolo, who has already played in very different contexts, came to the Brussels Conservatory from Paris. "He is a fantastic, unique musician with a clear identity of his own in a way that I never experienced previously," Possing stated enthusiastically. The two met musically, became friends, and then the pianist began to think about how they could work together in the future. It helped that they all, the foursome and Rabesolo, combined a kind of "natural approach" to music, as Possing put it. "It is more about energy than about any compositional concepts;" the ideas for pieces and arrangements result directly.
World music approaches were already a topic in the quartet. For example, Pierre Cocq-Amann has played with musicians from various regions of Africa in France many times. "Everything naturally came together." The quintet was on stage for the first time one year before the recording of Homes. They had regular rehearsals over the following months. Possing also traveled to Brussels several times to test ideas with Joel Rabesolo and create a good basis for production. This conscientious preparation and coordination paid off. When the group and Rabesolo gathered in the studio west of Paris, everything fit together. What's more, the interaction created an unimagined dynamic. "There are things on the album that weren't planned at all, including super coincidences that made it even richer." The generous studio time made it possible to pursue a wide variety of ideas, among other things. For example, Cocq-Amann, otherwise on tenor, soprano and flute, added an overdub part on the alto saxophone. Possing used a Fender Rhodes electric piano with effects for the first time; he had already been enthusiastic at a young age about the classic 70s recordings of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. The surprising coda of the extensive final track, based on a Malagasy groove, goes back to Rabesolo, of course. The dynamic developments in the longer pieces are fascinating. As Possing himself feels, "a certain lightness" dominates overall despite the intensity.
A colorful album with a corresponding cover that matches if very well. Possing has found a suitable quote for the title Homes: “A home does not have to be the place where you live. It can also be where your heart is, where there are people to whom you are connected, and where you feel comfortable.” Also musically!