THE BIGGEST STEPS (vinyl)

Description

"TOUX ON THE WAY TO THE SUMMIT AND BEYOND!!! With him, you have to expect surprises. Thus, his return to the acoustic trio is neither a step aside nor a step backward. Not Toux's style; more than a talented improviser, the still-young man (28 years old) possesses a perspective that allows him to begin each of his compositions knowing where it will lead. The result is great confidence in the shared playing with Simon Tailleu (double bass) and Maxence Sibille (drums), but also, for us, a constant intelligibility that even the most subtle blurring does not alter... With him, sensitivity speaks first." --- Louis Julien Nicolaou --- TÉLÉRAMA ---. "The irresistible ascent of a young prodigy." --- JAZZ MAGAZINE ---. "Gauthier Toux has moved from the category of 'new talent' to that of a significant musician." --- LE MONDE ---. "An acoustic power trio that finds its strength in a collective sound, an epic breath, music whose codes we don't need to know for it to take us far." --- TÉLÉRAMA ---.Associated with the new guard of French jazz, pianist Gauthier Toux is about to release 'The Biggest Steps' on the Parisian label Kyudo Records. After 'Unexpected Things' (2016) and 'The Colours You See' (2018), as well as numerous awards (La Défense laureate, Tremplin Jazz à Vienne laureate, Jazz Magazine Revelation, Adami jazz talent...), this acoustic power trio continues to find its strength in a collective sound and an epic breath, making listening a true journey.Listening to 'The Biggest Steps', one understands from the outset that it will not be about dividing 3 by 1. We will not follow the path of each member of this triangle out of a collective context.'Biggest Steps' is an acoustic power trio that finds its strength in a collective sound, an epic breath, whose listening is a journey, music whose codes we don't need to know for it to take us far. - - The all-too-common theme-solo-theme forms are banished. Gauthier Toux's compositions are labyrinthine suites in which the listener enjoys getting lost, rhythmic trompe-l'oeil, orchestral sound masses, intriguing melodic cells... As if by a desire to invent new geometries, it is a kind of augmented trio that is offered to us. Preconceived roles often reverse, and sometimes it is the piano that will hold an ostinato in the left hand, around which the bass and the right hand play the melody, the drums, then freed, offer another relief.The improvised parts naturally connect to the compositions with the same concern for counterpoint; each instrument is treated with the same care and moves away from a functional role to which it can sometimes be limited. By traversing these eleven landscapes, one measures the importance of narrative, the trio's desire to address the listener, to tell them stories.For each piece, Gauthier has a scenario, a precise narrative starting point. Here, a wandering through Lausanne in the early morning. The nostalgia of childhood, or a night spent weighing one's choices, accepting to finally take the time...Whatever the formal complexity of this album, it is clear because it is clearly expressed by those who deliver it to us, with strength, mastery, and unshakeable conviction. It says a lot about the leader, about this ten-year arc that he recounts in filigree, it says as much about the bond that unites the three protagonists and will undoubtedly also tell us about ourselves if we know how to listen.