Alain Caron - Multiple Faces

Styles: Jazz Funk, Soul  
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:47
Size: 118,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:53)  1. Right After 4
(6:22)  2. Sfing
(6:24)  3. The Lost Foot
(7:28)  4. Jazz Pool
(5:50)  5. Slick Shift
(5:47)  6. Canuba
(6:49)  7. Hurry Up and Wait
(6:11)  8. Then and After

Since the release in 2010 of his Felix award winning album Sep7entrion, Alain Caron has been quite busy touring the world. For this new album Multiple Faces, his eighth solo album to date, the bassist, composer calls on the same core musicians that shined on Sep7entrion. The quartet is also joined by a brilliant five piece brass section on two cuts: Hurry Up & Wait & Sfing. Pierre Côté (guitars), John Roney (Keyboard) and Damien Schmitt (drums and percussions) who all took part in the Sep7entrion recordings travelled extensively with Alain, bringing with them a wide range of influences and colors which ultimately helped shape Multiple Faces. Recorded and filmed live in studio, Multiple Faces holds true to its name. Following in the footsteps of the preceding album, Multiple Faces is a step ahead in Alain’s musical evolution, largely inspired by his countless years of developing his artform, his visits around the world and his clear and an unrelenting desire to always look forward in jazz; you can hear these textures and cultures well fused in his vision of today’s modern Jazz. The compositions are sharp and passionate as are the breathtaking musical performances, arrangements and sound! The album regroups eight new titles that tacitly blend jazz, rock, funk even Classical with a world outview!  With his mastery of an exceedingly rare instrument the six-string bass Alain Caron has earned international status as an exceptional artist, and is the worthy recipient of the 2013 prestigious Oscar-Peterson Award. Named best electric bassist 8 years in a row by Jazz Report, winner of 11 Félix Awards and awarded an honorary doctorate by UQAR, the former member of legendary jazz fusion group UZEB has released over 20 albums and returns with his latest, Multiple Faces. Prepare for the peerless prowess of a poet of the bass guitar (FDJM). https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/alaincaron11

Personnel:  Alto Saxophone – Jean-Pierre Zanella );  Baritone Saxophone – Alexandre Côté;  Bass – Alain Caron;  Drums – Damien Schmitt;  Guitar – Pierre Côté;  Piano, Keyboards – John Roney;  Tenor Saxophone – David Bellemare;  Trumpet – Jocelyn Couture, Ron Di Lauro

Multiple Faces

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Alain Caron - Conversations

Styles: Jazz Funk, Soul 
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:05
Size: 172,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:35)  1. No Pick
(6:15)  2. Ivoire
(7:05)  3. Questions
(4:26)  4. Blue Screen
(6:02)  5. Val C
(7:01)  6. X Tensions
(8:55)  7. Solitude
(7:30)  8. Strings of Spring
(3:47)  9. Confirmation
(6:56) 10. Scrapper
(4:24) 11. Baby Step
(7:02) 12. Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song)

Canadian bassist Alain Caron is best-known as the former member of collaborative 1980s fusion group UZEB and his own projects as a leader since that time, including the house beats-meets-ambient electronica-meets-contemporary fusion of 5 (BHM, 2005) and the concert DVD Alain Caron Live: Cabaret de Montréal (Norac, 2006). Still, digging into his past it becomes clear that Caron's reach has always been broader. As capable with acoustic bass as he is the fretless electric variety, Caron spent considerable time in his early years working in mainstream contexts, making Conversations a completely logical addition to his discography.  The intimacy and conversational nature of the acoustic duet is the foundation for Caron's disc, which teams him with other Canadian artists with whom he's intersected over the years including pianists Lorraine Desmarais, François Bourassa and Oliver Jones, as well as vibraphonist and one-time UZEB member Jean St-Jacques. Caron also welcomes Venezuelan-born pianist Otmaro Ruiz, with whom he collaborated on another fusioner's all-acoustic tangent, guitarist Frank Gambale's Natural High (Wombat, 2006). The dozen tracks all but two composed by Caron range from the elegant swing of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation, with St-Jacques proving he's as widely versed and bebop-capable as Caron, to "Scrapper, a more fiery original from Caron that, paired with Canadian icon Oliver Jones, is the perfect follow-up to Parker's often-covered classic. 

Elsewhere, Caron's predilection for the lyrical is heard on the melancholic "Ivoire, where his acoustic bass guitar fronts the theme before handing it off to Ruiz. There's no lack of virtuosity from everyone involved but here, as on the Latin-esque "Questions, featuring Bourassa, it's about the music and the essence of melody. Still, there's complexity to be found on songs like the 5/4 theme of "Blue Screen, another feature for Bourassa that's ultimately an up-tempo blues, and the idiosyncratic intro to "X Tensions that ultimately turns into a gentler dialogue between Caron and Desmarais. Despite the undeniably strong playing throughout, just as important here are Caron's writing, which manages to feel both familiar and fresh at the same time, and the deep level of interaction and simpatico he shares with every one of his guests. There are no highlights to be found because to identify any would be to diminish everything else. Conversations is a consistently captivating listen from start to finish, and an album that deserves to place all the artists involved on the radar of listeners outside of Canada, but especially Caron who, while enjoying some international acclaim (especially in Europe), clearly deserves to be a better-known name south of the border—and not just to fans of high energy fusion. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/conversations-alain-caron-norac-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Alain Caron: bass;  Lorraine Desmarais, François Bourassa, Oliver Jones, Otmaro Ruiz: piano;  Jean St-Jacques: Vibraphone

Conversations

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