Colin Vallon Trio: Le Vent

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Julian Sartorius (d, perc)
Patrice Moret (b)
Colin Vallon (p)

Label:

ECM

April/2014

RecordDate:

2013

A restless stillness dominates this second ECM release from young Swiss pianist Colin Vallon's trio. (The first was Rruga in 2011.) The much-awarded Vallon believes in the power of resonantly minimal explorations of texture and atmosphere rather than ripping off note-rich solos – which makes him a shoo-in for Manfred Eicher's label, of course. The attention to detail is exquisite, and not just in Eicher's production either. Opener ‘Juuichi’ builds up a subtly powerful head of steam as Vallon and his side players, double bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Julian Sartorius, prod and poke at melody and rhythm parts (it's almost impossible to extricate them from one another here) that seem engaged in a clever, aurally propulsive game of trying to trip one another up. On the likes of the gloomily echoey, unmoving ‘Styx’ and the shimmering, crystalline gothic nightmare of ‘Coriolis’, Vallon strays profitably into Michael Wollny territory – though playing a lot fewer notes, naturally.

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