Argot Lunaire (Lunar Slang in French), the new French sextet, and the Debut self-titled album are led by pianist and composer Anne Quillier, a key member of the Lyon-based musicians’ collective and label Le Collectif Pince-Oreilles, who is known from the local duo Watchdog, the quintet Hirsute, and the quartet Les Géants Terrestres.
The sextet has an unorthodox instrumentation – Quiller plays on piano and Fender Rhodes. She is accompanied by violinist Fany Fresard, bassoonist Nicolas Mary, bass clarinetist Pierre Horckmans (who plays with Quiller in Watchdog and Hirsute), double bass player Michel Molines, and Guilhem Meier, who is credited with a «modified drum set». The album was recorded at Les Tontons Flingueurs studio in Renaison in June 2025.
The unique, chamber-like instrumentation allows Quillier to explore intricate, layered, joyful, and melodic story-like themes that blur the distinctions between contemporary music, chamber jazz, art rock, and free improvisation, while exploring the unique timbres of such an ensemble. Quiller thinks of Argot Lunaire as offering an imaginary world that lets us escape reality, «like a secret word, like something that wants to be said but cannot be said, complex yet concrete».
Quillier’s compositions for Argot Lunaire are ironic, playful, and adventurous sonic architectures, exploring her rich and imaginative musical universe. These compositions suggest clever references to Schubert («La druide de Schubert»), John Cage («Avant le silence»), theater, and prog-rock («Faire tomber les satellites (en veillant à ne pas abîmer la terre)». Quillier, no doubt, is a rare, highly original composer, musician, and bandleader with a bold musical vision of her own.
Eyal Hareuveni
Anne Quillier (piano, Rhodes), Fany Fresard (violin), Nicolas Mary (bassoon), Pierre Horckmans (bass clarinet), Michel Molines (double bass), Guilhem Meier (transformed drum set)
