Dark Rêverie

Description

With the Soundscape Quartet, Laurent Maur turns toward a more Funk/Jazz/Electro aesthetic, to our great delight. We find the presence of Emilie Calmé (on flutes), Curtis Efoua (drums), and the arrival of a newcomer: the brilliant keyboardist Clément Simon (spotted with Charlotte Planchou and Jeanne Michard). It is important to highlight Clément Simon’s fundamental role in this formation, as he handles rhythm, harmony, and melody alike, with his left hand on a synth bass and his right hand on the piano.
Laurent Maur and Emilie Calmé have been in love with China since 2010; they have lived there, travel there, and perform there often. It was precisely during a tour with this new quartet in May 2024 - which passed through the Taihu Jazz Festival in Beijing - that the Soundscape Quartet took advantage of two days “off” to record this album on site, titled “Dark Rêverie”. A title that evokes the dark period in which we live, but which aims to be positive by highlighting the part of dream that is within us and the possible hope that this dream can inspire.
The quartet offers a strongly organic, playful, and joyful music, built around an unstoppable groove, yet where rigor and formal exploration are always essential. There is also something new in the sound production on a few tracks, with an orientation toward electronic textures processed by the talented DJ Uzul, giving depth and substance to the overall sound and especially to the drum sound. A production effort reinforced by Laurent Maur who, when he uses his MIDI harmonica DM48X, produces harmonic sound layers reminiscent at times of an EWI (electronic saxophone).