François Bourassa Quartet – Swirl : Live at Piccolo

The first thought that came to my mind when I listened to the first track (Pooloop) of Swirl, pianist François Bourassa’s most recent album, was “it sounds like Webern swinging”. Recorded live in quartet format at Montreal’s Piccolo studio, Swirl kicks off its first tour with a panorama of atonal peckings performing a swaying dance against a rhythmic backdrop halfway between pulsation and organised chaos. It’s sublime in its lightness and intelligence. Bourassa has achieved an uncommon feat here: making the legacy of the Second Viennese School smile. While many others have attempted to marry the two worlds (think Carla Bley, Cecil Taylor, etc.), few have made such an attractive and sympathetic success of it.

Of course, Bourassa doesn’t do it alone: his companions are solid and just as inspired. André Leroux on sax and flute is no stranger to this kind of repertoire. Guy Boisvert on double bass (sometimes with bow) is another veteran of the musical refinement demanded by Bourassa. On drums, a newcomer to the pianist’s entourage (at least in the studio) is Guillaume Pilote, who seems to have fitted naturally into this demanding musical mould. 

The programme’s second track, Prologue, confirms that this was not a case of wandering off, but still focuses the pulse in a more robust and sustained beam. Room 58 is a nocturnal stroll, imbued with mystery, where a secret seems to want to be revealed at every turn, but without ever really revealing itself. Elusive but bewitching. Costard is stronger: it’s a sparkling free ride. I’d be curious to know the main idea behind the title and how it relates to the final result.

Remous and 15, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette both return us to a more conventional, albeit modern, harmonic palette. Their broadened tonality gives an impression of caution, even a certain conservatism that leaves me a little disappointed as a music lover, even if the wisdom of Bourassa’s approach is undeniable here as in the previous pieces. Despite everything, the perfection of the first pieces on this whirlwind of colours and musical richness is too good to faintly flinch at considerations that are, all in all, rather cerebral. This is a masterly album that transcends the labels of contemporary music, jazz, modern jazz and so on. This is pure music, the kind that transforms listening, that opens doors, that enriches today to build tomorrow. This album will definitely be on my top 3 albums of the year list.