Vincent Courtois, Daniel Erdmann, Robin Fincker – Nothing Else

The configuration of this trio, originally led by Vincent Courtois, has since taken on a collective dimension, with all three composing together.

A cello and two reeds, that’s never been seen before. But the trio’s aim is not to be original at all costs. What guides these three musicians is a shared vision of the group sound, related to an obvious compatibility of their individual sounds.

They have traveled extensively together, including to the West Coast of the USA in the footsteps of Jack London, of whom Courtois is a great reader. Here, it’s again all about travel, as each title of the sixteen mostly short tracks bears the name of a city: from Portland to Budapest (where the CD was recorded), from Groningen to New York, from Port Louis to Kuopio… Travelling and making listeners travel is clearly the trio’s aim, and they succeed, to say the least.

Through the grace of their individual sounds, for a start. Courtois on pizzicato or bow, Robin Fincker on saxophone or clarinet, Daniel Erdmann on tenor each possess an identity where any listener with a pair of functioning ears will detect a dazzling maturity in the approach to sound.

There is no leader in this trio, in which each accompanies the other two or takes a brief solo in turn. The cello doesn’t take on a bass role here, but deploys the bewitching volutes of its deep timbre on an equal footing with its two partners.

The two saxophonists each have their own voice, and there’s something fascinating about the interweaving of their magnificent sonorities. As for the clarinet, on a few tracks it adds a fresh and welcome touch.

There’s something eminently carnal about this music, which is as much thoughtful as it is felt, all the more so as the recording and mixing by Hungarian sound engineer Viktor Szabo, remarkably well done, make the presence of the three instruments so palpable that you’d think you were in the same room with them.

A total success, then, on the part of European musicians who, no longer having to prove themselves, can afford to play unheard-of music to which it’s hard to imagine anyone remaining indifferent.

Remarkable!