Louis Billette Quintet - Concordance (2019)

"The Louis Billette Quintet releases a second album with the iconic title, Concordance, at the intersection of styles and arts. If this new book offers pure jazz, very good quality, it is a nod to both the great masters of classical music and swing than painting. The concordances with the past can be seen in the eight titles: we go from Johann Sebastian Bach to the captivating motif of Kyrie's Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, while other pieces are inspired by Ravel, or dedicated to Mozart and Satie . The saxophonist Louis Billette also dedicates some of his pieces to jazz giants: John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.

These dedications, repetitions and inspirations are not simple copies or music "in the style of": the language of the quintet is still his own. The musicians - Louis Billette on saxophone, Zacharie Ksyk on trumpet, François Lana on piano, Blaise Tribute on bass and Marton Kiss on percussioæns - show a solid mastery of the arrangement, a pleasant variety of colors as well than a beautiful ability to paint disparate atmospheres.

Talking about colors: the concordance with the painting is done by the works of Romain Billette, brother of Louis, works that will be present on stage during the nine concerts of the Swiss tour planned as part of Switzerland Diagonales Jazz, in January and February . Romain is an artist suffering from schizophrenia, and his work will come out of the private sphere of the psychiatric hospital to illustrate the pieces of the quintet from which they are inspired. Play of mirrors: Louis, for his part, is very inspired by Romain's free spirit and creative force. The paintings on stage plunge the viewer into intense listening, while the music gives the painting even more depth. "