During the last decade the French jazz scene has become extremely vibrant, especially in Paris. French jazz musicians have their own style, characterised by a certain joie de vivre and Gallic flair. This glocalisation of the music has its origins in World War II, when French musicians were cut off from developments in the US, encouraging them to go their own way resulting in the development of a specific and identifiable ‘French Jazz Tradition’.

Many young musicians that have emerged in the last decade take pride in celebrating La Différance, exemplified by Emile Parisien, who began winning awards almost as soon as he appeared on the scene just a few years ago. With Sfumato he gives notice that he is maturing into an artist that surely will number among the leading European jazz musicians of the future. This exemplary album is an ideal introduction to a musician who is beginning to create waves beyond the borders of France, and with Joachim Kuhn on piano, Parisian gives his freer jazz impulses rein.

The principal interest of the album is the way he interacts and jousts with the ever inventive Kuhn.

Here is wonderful open-hearted interplay as Parisian emerges as an important new voice in jazz.