Constellative Trio

Gargaud/Grente/Waziniak
Omusue
Torf Records TR 007

Over the years, veteran French percussionist Thierry Waziniak has been part of various sized configurations with everyone from Michaël Attias to Jacques Di Donato, but his longest lasting collaboration has been with fellow Gaul, cellist Gaël Mevel, who also works with the likes of Matt Maneri. While both free music, each of these discs show the drummer’s measured reaction to precise instrumental stimuli. The Constellative Trio has him and Mevel in the company of Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo whose creative partners have ranged from John Russell to Elisabeth Harnik. Meanwhile Omusue is another trio session, but this time the percussionist improvises alongside two other Gauls: acoustic guitarist Guillaume Gargaud and bassist Patrice Grente, whose experience encompasses gigs with players like Jean Luc Petit and Paul Dunmall.

Heading more towards the introverted Russell than the extroverted Dunmall, Gargaud, Gente and Waziniak’s seven tunes are mostly mid-tempo, restrained and responsive. Although the preferred tempos are andante and adagio it doesn’t means that any player eschews intricate or extended techniques. Besides a finger-style folksy overlay Gargaud adds rugged strums, bottleneck echoes and ringing clips. Grente’s resonating string thumps alternate with arco buzzes, while Waziniak’s understated contributions include gentle cymbal pings and drum rumbles. The interface toughens and intensifies on Omusue’s longest expositions. “IQUSIQUE” includes a methodological double bass-directed theme, and regularized and drum beats. As the others’ output is practically neutral, the guitarist jumps from below the bridge and near the tuning pegs clinks to blurred fingering that ascends to flashy twangs then descend to spaced strums. “MW IQUE” increases the pressure as Gargaud’s metallic slide variations clang in double time until his string hammering gives way to downward fails that intersect with Grente’s walking bass line.

As understated but more audacious, the Constellative Trio’s disc includes lyrical interludes, but mostly resolves around Mimmo’s sometimes thin squeaks or overblowing response to the Waziniak-Mael teamwork. Still as the cellist’s buzzing arco slides or double-bass-like vibrations reveal both sides of his output and the drummer’s restrained backing that relies on nerve beats and intermittent pops, the two are anything but a standard rhythm section.

For instance on “Blossom Song” the  combination of string drone and drum clunks encourages Mimmo to move past almost monotone trills to slur backwards into spetrofluctuation, widening his vibrations for echoing dissonance. Or on “Scattered Newspaper” drum pumps and spiccato string stops eventually become consistent slaps and pumps as the saxophonist asserts himself with nasal curlicue double-tongued stops. Other times, as on “Let the Shadow Come In” the narrative’s lyrical extension is directed by warm cello backing that widens the interface.

Most satisfying though are those tracks which allow all the stretch out. Build ups that link mutual instrumental toughness that extend the horizontal motion at the same time as it’s decorated with unexpected tribal coloration are a prelude to “Tale of the Shuffled Sheets”, the longest track, and “Qualities of An Afternoon, it’s brief coda. Combining the cello’s arco string slides, positioned rim shots from the drummer and reed note bending, the broken octave procession leads to the saxophonist emphasizing doits as the cello interlude is cultured without descending into cloying. Completed with intersectional cymbal clangs, the coda is projected by cello drones and reed trills.

Mostly about group connection rather than individual virtuosity, each of these sessions demonstrates the value of having a sympathetic percussionist like Waziniak involved in free form creativity. Provided of course that as in these examples, his partners create with the same skill.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Omusue: 1. MUS 2. BOHORUF 3. BAUSHIG 4. IQUSIQUE 5. MW IQUE 6. OMUSUE 7. MUSMIUE 6:04

Personnel: Omusue: Guillaume Gargaud (acoustic guitar); Patrice Grente (bass) and Thierry Waziniak (drums)

Track Listing: Constellative: 1. Blossom Song 2. Green Bagatelle 3. Let the Shadow Come In 4. Purple Bagatelle 5. The Laziest Mankind 6. Crinale 7. Tale of the Shuffled Sheets 8  Qualities of An Afternoon 9. Blue Bagatelle 10. Scattered Newspaper 11. Orange Bagatelle

Personnel: Constellative: Gianni Mimmo (saxophone soprano); Gaël Mevel (cello) and Thierry Waziniak (drums)