Walls Made Of Glass
Three Pines, 2022
8/10
The Montreal based pianist Gentiane MG returns with a 3rd album, where Levi Dover (bass) and Louis-Vincent Hamel (drums) are on board for the originals that are themed around the deep connection that MG has felt with her environment.
After the warm, mature keys of the brief “Prologue”, “Flowers Laugh Without Muttering A Word” follows with a hypnotic quality that uses agile drumming to help cultivate a mysterious mood.
At the halfway point, “Mésanges” emits a reflective tone, where light drums, cautious bass and moody keys are quite alluring, while “Contemplating Joy” is highly intimate, dreamy even, as the exciting bass work is met with chilling drums and poetic keys.
“Burning Candle” and “Epilogue” exit the listen, where the former spotlights the plucked bass amid absorbing piano progressions, and the latter focuses on the firm keys that can rumble with a bit of an ominous appeal.
An artist who was classically trained but now spends most of her time in modern jazz territory, there's plenty of grooves, richness and strong lyricism in these genuine, harmonic and dissonant gems.
Travels well with: Rafael Zalvidar- Rumba; Chet Doxas- Rich In Symbolism II