Boutellier/Valéanu/ Nicolas – A Christmas Cadeau: Joyeux Noël From Paris

Although there were also three of them, the Three Wise Men never thought of forming a trio, let alone a sax/guitar/double bass trio.

There’s no question of holding it against them, especially since Jon Boutellier, Michaël Valéanu, and Clovis Nicolas decided, after an excellent previous album (reviewed on this website last year), to return for the holidays with a sumptuous “Christmas Cadeau” to wish us a “Joyeux Noël from Paris” (even though all three reside in New York).

It’s a nod to their French origins, which doesn’t prevent them from embracing the American tradition of Christmas albums — which is hardly followed in France — with tenderness and humor.

Our three Frenchies from New York have therefore taken Christmas songs of French, American, and German origin and treated them with delightful originality in a delectable chamber jazz format.

All three have a distinctive and flavorful sound. Jon Boutellier—who here plays tenor sax, soprano sax, and clarinet—deploys a sumptuous tone and a very relaxed phrasing on his three reeds and it is a pleasure to follow the melodic lines he explores with great respect for a tradition of wind players that he continues in style.

Michaël Valéanu has a rich, clear sound, and his harmonic knowledge and rhythmic foundation, in chords or arpeggios, are a constant delight, as he has a knack for accompanying his partners with finesse, allowing himself some tasteful and relevant solos.

Clovis Nicolas, for his part, brings to the ensemble a magnificent double bass tone, woody and full of bounce, which makes the melodies pulsate or underpins them with an admirable sense of the right note.

All in all, we have a delicious cocktail of timeless melodies revisited with subtle arrangements by the three friends, whose art of playing together we delight in sharing.

A beautiful gift that we can’t wait to give to our friends and family for Christmas, and beyond!