Vincent Bourgeyx - Short Trip (2017)

Tracklist

01. Short Trip
02. Abbey
03. I Got Lost in His Arms
04. In a Hurry
05. Choral
06. This Is New
07. While She Sleeps
08. Elephant's March
09. Cross Fingers
10. Tune Up
11. I've Grown Accustomed to His Face
12. June
13. For All We Know

Most of the tunes here were penned by the leader, and they’re very good and varied, played by a very nice line-up. I particularly enjoyed the agile rhythm pairing of Penman and Calvaire, who seem very responsive to the soloists, whilst providing high-quality grooves at a wide range of tempos. The opener Short Trip is reminiscent of some of the work on Jason Rebello’s 1990 debut album A Clearer View, with its tendency towards grooves that edge towards fusion, sometimes with unison running left-hand piano and bass lines amongst the overall texture.

I Got Lost In His Arms is the first of two vocal tracks, a nice ballad, well-sung by the France- based American Sara Lazarus, inducing a fluent solo from Bourgeyx. In a Hurry sees Bourgeyx initially launching off in a high-tempo Corea-like way, and Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin’s This Is New kicks off at a similar lick, with Bourgeyx always seeming to have a higher gear available if he requires it in his solos.

The change of time signature and tempo of While She Sleeps provides some very brief respite, and it seems a shame that this isn’t given time to develop further. Penman gets solos on Elephant’s March and the gently funky Cross Fingers amongst others, before the rhythmic reworking of Miles Davis’s Tune Up builds to a thunderous climax with Calvaire’s solo. Lazarus returns with I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face, which almost feels like the last track, but Bourgeyx’s solo For All We Know ultimately seems a fitting closer.

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