Henri Texier knows what music is all about, and he has his own modest vision on it. He is a phenomenal bass player, who manages to keep the ground tone while being very melodious at the same time. Furthermore, he integrates many influencess in his music, starting with French folk music, of which he changes the often joyful melody into a jazz-format : extending and stretching the melody, putting the accents differently, and making the sound a little bit darker, more emotional. A "Texier melody" is hence easily recognizable, and that is also the case on his CDs with Louis Sclavis and Aldo Romano. But it doesn't stop there. Also Arabic and African influences find their way easily and imperceptibly into his music. He made his best albums with his Azure Quintet : the same players as on this album, but with Bojan Zulfikarpasic on piano, and Glen Ferris on trombone : "Mad Nomads", "An Indian's Week" and "Mosaic Man" are easy to recommend. Especially Bojan Z's piano is worth listening to : he adds some extra Balkan rhythms and melodies into the mix. On two of his other CDs ("Izlaz" and "Colonel Skopje") Steve Swallow joins on his electric bass. A quartet with two basses, that's something different, yet it works.
Tracks
01. TEHOUDA (Prologue) (Henri Texier / Tony Robeson)
02. SACRIFICE (Henri Texier)
03. CORDE FATIGUE (Henri Texier)
04. CHEBIKA COURAGE (Henri Texier)
05. GRÈVE RÉVOLTE (Henri Texier)
06. ENFANT LIVRE (Tony Robeson)
07. POULIE REBELLION (Henri Texier)
08. HANTISE (Henri Texier)
09. LEÏLA (Henri Texier)
10. VENT OUSSIÈRE à L.S. (Sébastian Texier )
11. SOMMIEL CAILLOU (Épilogue) (Henri Texier, Sébastien Texier)
SÉBASTIEN TEXIER alto saxophone, alto clarinet, clarinet
HENRI TEXIER double bass, bendir
TONY RABESON drums
Recorded at Studio Gil Evans, July 2000
Label Bleu – LBLC 6638