JEAN DEROME

JEAN DEROME & SOMEBODY SPECIAL – LE SOURIRE

DAME/Ambiances Magnétiques

Jean Derome, alto saxophone/bass flute/voice; Karen Young, vocals; Alexandre Grogg, piano; Normand Guilbeault, double bass; Pierre Tanguay, drums; Steve Lacy, compositions.

This is improvised music, featuring the compositions of the iconic Steve Lacy. Lyricists have contributed words to some of his compositions.  Lyrics are printed out in the accompanying booklet.  They include the following writers: Anna Akhmatova, Samuel Beckett, Robert Creeley, Bob Kaufman and Judith Malina. The star of this show is Jean Derome with his innovative and improvised approach to experimental music on alto saxophone, bass flute, and also using his voice.

This is Jean Derome’s second homage to the innovative composer and soprano saxophonist, Steve Lacy (1934 – 2004). The ensemble opens with “Jack’s Blues” featuring a stellar alto saxophone solo by Derome.  His vocals blend with Karen Young, reminding me of 1960s and the Lambert Hendrix and Ross style.

Derome is the recipient of numerous awards including the Freddie Stone Award (1992), in 2014 the Prix Collegien de Musique Contemporaine, and six Prix Opus Awards.  He continues his groundbreaking creativity on this newly released album.

The nucleus of this production is Derome’s longtime trio members including bassist, Normand Guilbeault and Pierre Tanquay on drums. He added Alexandre Grogg on piano and Karen Young’s vocals.

All the melodies of these songs are challenging, with unexpected intervals and difficult harmonics. This is experimental jazz that has spanned his fifty-year career. Jean Derome is an accomplished composer, a respected multi-instrumentalist and improviser whose discography celebrates over one-hundred album releases, with just as many compositions written for film, theater and dance.

The Straight-ahead vocalese continues on “Sands, 2: Jump” sung in French by Young and Derome is an introduction into what I really enjoy hearing which is Jean Derome’s excellence on the alto saxophone.  His inventive and infectious playing has been influenced by Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Eric Dolphy, and Anthony Braxton, but reflects his own style and charisma. Alexandre Grogg offers an innovative piano solo.

I’m always fascinated by musicians and composers who step totally outside the box to pursue their own expression and creativity in ways not-so-familiar. French Canadian avant-garde artist, Jean Derome, has been doing this for half a century.  He is an individualist.  Fasten your seatbelt!

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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