Sylvain Rifflet and Verneri Pohjola’s Aux Anges fly high in Helsinki

Verneri Pohjola joined French tenorist Sylvain Rifflet’s band in this sold-out show, launching a tour of Finland and the Baltics through the end of April.

The two are birds of a feather, both masters of a hybrid jazz that balances the organic and the synthetic, the mainstream and the avantgarde. Close in age and each with a catalogue of about 10 albums including a 2022 duo, the two perfectly complemented each other. Playing mostly Rifflet’s compositions, their horns entwined like tendrils, supporting and rivalling one other.

Their joint ensemble is called ‘Aux Anges,’ literally ‘to the angels’ – close to the English expression ‘over the moon,’ i.e. ecstatic. That was the right word for the set’s highlight ‘Mésanges’ – another wordplay which means a humble titmouse or ‘My Angels’. Either interpretation sounded right, the two horns’ tandem swoops evoking a gentle cascade of wings. The result was so hypnotic that I wished it wouldn’t end.

Hungarian guitarist Csaba Palotaï supported them with nearly acoustic strums, then switched to a driving indie-rock sound on ‘Déjà vu’. He and drummer/percussionist Benjamin Flament churned out a Pixies-like rhythm that soon became tedious and repetitious.

Flament was much more arresting on other tunes, playing an array of percussive instruments that he makes himself, such as a set of mini-vibes. The co-leaders, too, each had an arsenal of pedals and small gadgets, with Rifflet adding background sounds from an Indian shruti box that looked like a backgammon board.

This all coalesced on ‘Le Murmure,’ with Palotaï’s guitar ranging from Mary Halvorson-like thorniness to watery Bill Frisell interludes and Flament offering electronic-edged gamelan sounds. The horns flew complex patterns, eventually dissolving into an uncertain twittering like birds confused by an eclipse.

Each band member has such a range of expression that the group’s flights of improvisation were as ever-changing as Around the World in 90 Days – constantly switching forms of transport and facing new challenges but moving relentlessly forward before stopping neatly on a penny.