Canadian. Montréal-based reed master and composer Jean Derome & the Somebody Special quintet is his second tribute to American, Paris-based idiosyncratic soprano sax player Steve Lacy (1934-2004), and especially to his original pieces influenced by and borrowing poetic texts. Le sourire is Derome’s second tribute to Lacy’s literary compositions, following Somebody Special (Ambiances Magnétiques, 2019), leading the same quintet of vocalist Karen Young, who sings in English and French, pianist Alexandre Grogg, double bass player Normand Guilbeault, drummer Pierre Tanguay, and Derome on alto sax, bass flute, and vocals.
Lacy’s music paid homage to the innovative music of Sidney Bechet and Thelonious Monk, and he was one of the most original interpreters of Monk’s music, as well as artists like painter Mark Rothko and writer Samuel Beckett. But throughout the years, Lacy’s approach, called by him «materialist#, morphed into freer, multidimensional, singular textures, particularly in his work with partner-vocalist Irene Aeby or pianist Frederic Rzewski.
Derome, like Lacy, interpreted Monk’s music. But describes himself as «trained in almost every school but trapped in none». He has eclectic musical interests and wrote music for films, theatre, and dance. Derrome’s Somebody Special traces Lacy’s thoughtful evolution, the unique, often eccentric tonal ideas, and the surrealist textures, with an inventive, passionate interplay and captivating elegance. Canadian trombonist Scott Thomson, who contributed the liner notes, mentions that Lacy lived the Georges Braque aphorism that he had also set to music: «Limited means engender new forms, invite creativity, develop style». Derome and Somebody Special sound as subscribing to this wise, inspiring aphorism.
Le sourire features eleven pieces of Lacy, all dedicated to artists who influenced Lacy, paired with poems that shed more light on Lacy’s multifaceted, poetic vision that masterfully ties music, images, and texts. Young and Derome deliver these poems in a commanding, often theatrical manner, fully surrendering to the poetic spirit and aware of the lyrical nuances and Lacy’s clever musical games. The album’s booklet offers the poems of Robert Creely, Anna Akhamatove, Samuel Beckett, Judith Malina, and Bob Kaufman, with other pieces dedicated to Jean Paul Sartre, William Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Allen Ginsberg, and Irving Berlin, as well as painters Marc Chagall, Bob Thompson, and Piet Mondrian.
Perhaps the anarchistic poems of Malina best capture Lacy’s artistic spirit, faithfully followed by Derome and Somebody Special. In «I Heard the Indian Sage», dedicated to Ginsberg, she concludes: «Three is love / Because we are crazy / And want to be happy / forever». And in «Love and Politics», dedicated to Arthur Miller, she tells about a boat trip to Cyprus, where she saw Aphrodite’s head, and told her that she is an anarchist who does not vote, and told her that «There are so many things we should discuss / the power of unnecessary kings / the sexual oppression of which Sappho sings… / but she sank out of sight». The last piece, «Heaven», adapting Creely’s poem, and dedicated to Berlin, charges this beautiful album with a sober realization: «If life were easy / and it all worked out, / what would this sadness / be about. // If it was happy / day after day, / what would happen / anyway».
Eyal Hareuveni
Jean Derome (alto saxophone, bass flute, vocals), Karen Young (vocals), Alexandre Grogg (piano), Normand Guilbeault (double bass), Pierre Tanguay (drums)
