French tenor sax player-composer Sylvain Cathala founded a new quintet, in 2017, and employed this new as a sonic lab for refining new sound and new aesthetics. Cathala, known for his collaborations with guitarist Marc Ducret and vocalist Kamilya Jubran as well as the leader of his trio and septet, wanted to mix «traditional» jazz improvisation with contemporary compositional strategies, formal structures with freedom, and to reflect a respect for the cultural heritage of jazz with unique rhythmic poetry. The quintet recorded its debut album at le Triton scène in Les Lilas in December 2020 after a successful residency at this location during the second Covid-19 lockdown.

The new quintet features trumpeter Olivier Laisney, who plays in Magic Malik Fanfare XP, pianist Benjamin Moussay, who released his solo album «Promontoire» on ECM in 2020 and plays in the quartet of Louis Sclavis, double bass player Frédéric Chiffoleau, who plays in the trio of Alban Darche, and drummer Maxime Zampieri, who plays in Magic Malik Orchestra.

«Poetry of Storms» offers eight compositions of Cathala. None of these well-crafted, elegant compositions is stormy, nor relaxed, but all suggest some arresting poetic ideas, and not necessarily rhythmic ones. These post-bop compositions highlight Cathala’s great attention to detail and his thoughtful and generous arrangements that stress the individual voices of the quintet. The dynamics of the quintet already feel organic, and the quintet sounds like a balanced, working band that finds its strength in harnessing its personal voices for a greater good. Layered and poetic pieces like «Enée’s Story», with a beautiful solo of Laisney, or the slow-cooking «Laniakea» and «Study 5», or the ballads «My Strong Identity, My Real Self 2» and «Line 2» demonstrate the mature, nuanced and open aesthetics of this quintet and the natural leadership of Cathala.

Eyal Hareuveni

Olivier Laisney (tp), Benjamin Moussay (p), Frédéric Chiffoleau (b), Maxime Zampieri (dr), Sylvain Cathala (ts)