Fleur Revisited
Odd Sound, 2021
8/10
The Montreal composer and musician Philippe Côté brings his soprano sax and bass clarinet to these 7 tracks, where Marc Copland’s fascinating piano prowess and the strings of Quatuor Saguenay quartet are in attendance for the rich, complex jazz ideas that embrace classical, chamber and orchestral nods, too.
“The Gathering” starts the listen with light atmosphere, as Copland’s graceful keys are met with an ominous quality that’s quite cinematic, and this leads into the string friendly “Dances & Laments (Nature’s Cries)”, which weaves plenty of classical ideas into the stirring climate.
“Mystery Of The Seed” lands in the middle, and recruits hypnotic keys amid moody strings, while “Stems” puts focus on the piano with cascading beauty as Copland’s flowing finger acrobatics make a sizable impression.
Close to the end, “Interlude: The Shades” is a quick offering of low keys in a bare setting, and “Blooms” exits the listen with Côté’s incredible sax playing interacting with the cautious piano in a very precise fashion.
Fleur Revisited was released in conjunction with Bell Tolls Variations, and the chemistry with Copland is quite incredible, and the addition of violins, cello and viola further make the effort a very unique and memorable reworking of the 2016 listen from Côté.