Plaistow Trio at Insubordinations: Los Criminales Reciclados en Conductores de Autobuses

Before I’m going to talk about the music, I’d like to introduce the label to you. Insubordinations is a Netlabel run by Laurent Peter, one of the most talented musicians and forward-pressing copyright activist you can find on the net. You might know Laurent for his d’incise-moniker. Insubordinations features improvised music and Free Jazz for download and CDr-purchase. The label is part of the Audioacitivity collective, a transnational consortium of visual artists and musicians from Belgium, France and the French-speaking parts of Switzerland. This collective also functions as a Netlabel, so don’t be confused.

Now it’s getting complicated: D’incise, head of Insubordinations, just released a new EP at eDogm, a French Netlabel supporting improvised music and Free Jazz, Electronica and Noise. This platform is run by Johann Bourquenez, who is also member of Plaistow. The trio has a new record online, and you can get it for free and as a limited CDr at Insubordinations. Ta-daa! Both eDogm and Insubordinations work hand in hand, support each other and keep up the good fight for challenging Jazz and Electronica.

The Geneva Plaistow Trio consists of Johann Bourquenez, Raphaël Ortis and Cyril Bondi. eDogm-coordinator Bourquenez grew up with violin, piano and synthesizers. He has been involved in several bands and cross-media projects but founded Plaistow to focus on all-analogue music. He is accompanied by Ortis on bass, a studied violinist and local hepcat from the city of Geneva. To make a trio three, Diatribes drummer Cyril Bondi accomplishes the band. Bondi studied drums and is active in different genres, including Hip Hop, African Folklore and Free Jazz. Diatribes is his band-project with laptopist D’incise and Gaël Riondel on sax. They’ve got several records online. Think you got an impression on the rhizomatic meshwork all these names are embedded in… Did I miss something? Ah, music!

“Los Criminales Reciclados en Conductores de Autobuses” (something like “Recycled Criminals as Busdrivers”) is the first official Plaistow release, and it made a sudden impact on me once I downloaded the files. I knew about Bourquenez’s lyrical talent and Bondi’s subtle grooves, still didn’t except that much beauty, power and briskness. Four elongated Post Jazz tunes you should listen to at high volume and repeat.

“Yap-Yap” opens the EP with a breathless mix of straight forward drums, a drilling Bebob-bassline and Bourquenez’s free and harmonic piano-patterns. The Bondi battery has a quite heavy Rock-sound, which captures the live-energy of the trio very well. The songs brakes down at 3:25 with a quintessential accord from piano and bass. The second part of “Yap-Yap” come along a bit more melodic, less drums, more bass, more Hard Bop than Free Jazz. Talking about Johann Bourquenez’s awesome play, I like to drop another name you should be familiar with: McCoy Tyner and 1962’s Cecil Taylor. Concerning the power of the trio in a whole, one can’t avoid naming Art Blakey for reference. Second tune “Mairie des Lilas” is nothing else but a damn revelation. Bouquenez forges cautiously on a small number of keys, repeatedly, Ortis is at place with subtle textures in the back and Bondi supports the piano with decent toms and cymbal. Slowly, a tangible melody forms (since 3:45). The piano-notes enlace themselves more and more, both drums and bass move a few steps closer until the whole indicated harmonic potential is unleashed with gongs and fireworks. Humble beauty, give me an alleluia!

The title track at position three begins silently with picked piano. These rather ambient textures are overcome by a grumpy bass-line, a simple rhythm and free-form piano notes. At 4:35, the trio joins for a little bridge. The piano is more present afterwards and Bondi plays himself in the foreground with open cymbals and several breaks. Ortis switches to a dense Rock-motive on bass (6:30) before the second bridge comes-in with legs apart and Cyril Bondi on the kick. Bourquenez and Ortis back-up the battery for a little solo before the whole composition comes to a sudden end. Finally, “Stase Psychique” gives you a smooth fade-out. A timeless Jazz-ballad made of laid-back drums, decent bass and nice piano-improvisation. Nothing I’m exited about but a good last curtain for this high quality Jazz-record. Please support the Plaistow Trio and Insubordinations Netlabel by singing their praise and order a copy of the limited CDr. I just did.

Get the record here:Los Criminales Reciclados en Conductores de Autobuses
Direct download: Get the zip-file!