THOMAS BUCKNER & JÉRÔME BOURDELLON / Totem
Jérôme Bourdellon (flutes, shakuhachi); Thomas Buckner (voice)
"Totem is a brilliant disc from two masters of extemporized form, often spanning culture and time in each gesture. While I have long admired Buckner’s work as both producer and artist, Bourdellon’s playing is a new discovery for me, and I look forward to hearing more from each of these artists - preferably in collaboration." - Marc Medwin, Dusted
In August of 2005, on a visit to Paris to celebrate the birthday of sculptor Alain Kirili, singer Thomas Buckner and flutist Jérôme Bourdellon gathered with Kirili at his studio to record these duo improvisations in the presence of his group of sculptures entitled "Totem". Both musicians are longtime collaborators with Alain Kirili, performing most recently at a concert at the Theatre du Palais Royal in Paris celebrating to opening of an installation of his sculptures in the garden of the Palais Royal. The music is a spontaneous, abstract response to and interaction with the sculpture.
Jérôme Bourdellon is a composer and flutist residing in Nancy, France. He collaborates frequently with the Musique-Actions Festival in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, and has just released a new CD of his music. His interests are wide ranging, and he has written and improvised music for dance, theater, and concerts with an international range of musicians--classical, jazz, and contemporary. The composer notes that this piece may be performed with any means of delivery possible, including but not limited to horseback, submarine, bicycle, car, unicycle, rollerblades, helicopter, etc.
TRACK LIST
Totem 1 (7:33)
Totem 2 (11:41)
Totem 3 (8:45)
Totem 4 (10:22)
Totem 5 (8:22)
Totem 6 (5:29)
Totem 7 (5:34)
REVIEWS
These duo improvisations, with the palpable presence of a third, were recorded in Paris in the summer of 2005. Celebrating the birthday of sculptor Alain Kirili, these recordings were made in the artist’s studio, his sculptures serving as impetus for the music.
Totem is a seven-part suite whose multivalent environments, both literal and figurative, change and morph as the disc progresses. The two performers, Jerome Bourdellon on various flutes and Thomas Buckner employing his customarily fine and long-fostered vocal techniques, seem to change position relative to microphones as the timbral and melodic landscapes they conjure slowly unfold.
Over the course of about an hour, the two musicians examine the history of improvisation, from the contrapuntal antiquities of “Totem 1” to the futuristic close-up snaps, thwacks, buzzes and whistling winds of “Totem 3.” A rhetorical analysis of the proceedings would be fascinating, as readily identifiable topics are allowed to manifest themselves, sometimes with whiplash rapidity, as they often do in the finest improvised music.
Yet, there is nothing miniature about these pieces; listen to the opening of “Totem 5,” as Buckner articulates a slowly evolving four-note figure, Bourdellon’s flute skipping nimbly around each vocal utterance. It’s a grand gesture, embodying ages of development in a single sweeping motion, avoiding the crutch of superfluous compression. Even in the frantic interplay of “Totem 6,” nothing seems forced, one musician expounding on an idea while the other fires off four or five, a role reversal always around the corner.
Totem is a brilliant disc from two masters of extemporized form, often spanning culture and time in each gesture. While I have long admired Buckner’s work as both producer and artist, Bourdellon’s playing is a new discovery for me, and I look forward to hearing more from each of these artists - preferably in collaboration.
