Jon Gordon, Baptiste Herbin, Géraldine Laurent, Pierrick Pédron – Altesques

A last-minute invitation, an almost impromptu meeting, a surprise rendezvous, a ball ticket slipped in at the last minute and with two coordinating conjunctions. The result is a quartet of blowers writing a score for a viola section. Introducing Altesques !

Four up-to-the-minute violas, brought together by a whirlwind phone call for a meeting at the corner of bop, deliver a very Monkian album, with the pianist-composer in the spotlight on three tracks.

If we’re also told that Baptiste Herbin “scribbled” a few arrangements for this quartet, which was originally intended to be a duo, then the scribbles are astute and rich, giving this ensemble a symbiosis of old bop routines. A very successful album, including the first track (Thelonious) recorded live, which adds to the impetuosity and virtuosity of these musketeers of the reed.

Perfectly mastered, there’s not a pin to be pulled even in assaults as explosive as they are astonishing (Waltz for a King), one could almost speak of enharmony gone wild. A version of Namely You where the four-part dialogue is respectful without being short of arguments, and in the opening bars of the Round Midnight theme we find a vein reminiscent of Charlie Rouse in the Monk era (albeit on tenor…).

The sonority and intertwining flow at a Bopian pace, and we could draw a metaphor by comparing the rhythmic audacity of these four to another great alto they must know by heart (understand who can…).

And while we’re on the subject of rhythms, it would be a great pity to overlook the temptation to listen carefully to the accompanists, led by pianist Fred Nardin, whose Powelli-like support is not at all unimportant in this undertaking. Between the velocity of the stamps and the curious velvetiness of the high notes, this recording is a credit to the alto saxophone.

Unexpected encounters often have no future, and we wouldn’t wish it on this association, whose da capo we could wish for.