Photo © Mephisto
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Photo © Mephisto |
VIDEO: Check out JMP's New Trio, featuring Thomas Bramerie on bass, and Mark Mondesir on drums, live in Vienne on June 29, 2005 © CLC Productions, Jazz a Vienne 2005 |
Albums
Live at Iridium, New York"An intense recording." "Exhilarating."
Follow Me"Jean-Michel Pilc is a trip. No jazz pianist today offers anything like his mélange of monster chops, wildly impulsive imagination, addiction to bombastic melodrama and shameless love of showing off." "While never dry or abstract, Pilc is a model for playing a little to say a lot." "'Follow Me' stands a major summation of Pilc's keyboard art, which has no counterparts. Pilc ranks among today's titans of the instrument... there's more to his art than the speed, precision and power of his 10 phenomenal fingers." "New facets within it reveal themselves with each hearing. Highly recommended."
Cardinal Points"should be studied in every music school in the galaxy..." "...ridiculously well-balanced, and trading in the kind of grace that still has the power to shake a room. Keith Jarrett found something similar... Pilc's nudging it a bit further down the line" "Pilc's playing reveals a roaring fire that all but consumes the cosmopolitan sheen stereotypical of European music."
Welcome HomeJean-Michel Pilc Trio"Pilc,
a pianist of razzle-dazzle technique, has been playing around town
for years, but his music has never been brought into focus as impressively
as on his new CD, Welcome Home (Dreyfus), recorded in Paris with
drummer Ari Hoenig and the remarkable bassist, François Moutin,
who played in New York last year with Martial Solal. Solal's own
extravagantly witty and unexpected improvisational gambits may be
seen as a precedent for Pilc's, which is saying a lot." "On
his first disc for the Dreyfus label, Jean-Michel Pilc keeps his
regular trio intact and continues to work maniacal wonders, mostly
with standards. Beginning with a fast and playful "So What,"
Pilc, bassist Francois Moutin, and drummer Ari Hoenig toss the familiar
figure back and forth, stretching it wildly while preserving the
integrity of the form. Duke Ellington and John Coltrane each get
a double nod, the former with sparse yet off-kilter readings of
"I Got It Bad" and "Solitude," the latter with
short, back-to-back deconstructions of "Cousin Mary" and
"Giant Steps." And Monk, one of Pilc's main influences,
is represented with "Rhythm-a-Ning," featuring spirited
trading between Pilc and Moutin and a meltdown of an ending. The
trio locates wonderful new secrets in the harmonic folds of "Stella
by Starlight," "Tenderly," and even Simon Garfunkel's
"Scarborough Fair." Pilc’s four originals resound
with conceptual daring, particularly the frenetic "Colchiques
Dans Les Prés" and the churning, funky "Serial Mother
Blues." A strong statement from a trio that continues to defy
classification."
Together Vol. 2Jean-Michel Pilc Trio Live at Sweet Basil, Volume 2"Been
listening to tapes of the pianist's recent live dates, and they're
killing…He's one of our top young piano voices…Listen
to what the pianist does to the opening of Bessie's Blues on volume
two of Live at Sweet Basil. Refraction, substraction, big action.
Pilc's bands are becoming synonymous with interplay. And the leader's
a quick-change artist - that cluster in the air is now a single
note, decaying quite regally donchaknow."
Together Vol. 1Jean-Michel Pilc Trio Live at Sweet Basil, Volume 1
"Those
who experience this phenomenal trio had better be prepared for an
exhaustive exercise in deep listening, for Pilc is a pillar of intensity.
He utilizes broad ranging adaptations and re-invention of standards,
with a wellspring of ideas that tumble out like a rushing waterfall
or roaring tornado. This 73 minutes of music is at once stunning,
dumbfoundling, compelling and brilliant beyond description." "A fantastic
new CD. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to apprehend the genius
of Pilc's music. Pilc & Co.'s courageous approach to playing
jazz in the moment, plus the enormous talent this focus on improvisational
interpretation brings to light, make his last CD a deeply satisfying
recording that marks a triumphant turning point in his career. To
quote Pilc's own words, this trio is 'the dream of a lifetime come
true.'" "...make
no mistake about it, to his credit, Mr. Pilc is very unique... I
would say that this trio starts at Mars, and then goes from there.
Don't expect anything resembling conventional interpretations. This
is fascinating and rewarding music...The level of empathy and sensitivity
in this group is also stunning. They can stop or shift gears on
a dime... For anyone interested in creative and visceral music,
this album is an important find. I eagerly await vol. 2" "Pilc stands
ready to break out of the box and allow the immensity of his talent
to be recognized... Pilc's talent is such that it leaves the listeners
agog and the critics wordless... From the critics' quotes I've read,
they're struggling to describe the physicality of his approach and
the unpredictability of his performances... "Live At Sweet
Basil, Vol. 1" is in a class unto itself, stunning the listener
to attention. Like other writers, I'm glad to have heard Jean-Michel
Pilc at a relatively early stage in his career before the inevitable
buzz surrounds him." SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHYAs a leader: Jean-Michel Pilc: New Dreams Jean-Michel Pilc: Follow Me Jean-Michel
Pilc: Cardinal Points Jean-Michel
Pilc Trio: Welcome Home Jean-Michel
Pilc Trio: Together Jean-Michel
Pilc: Big One Jean-Michel
Pilc Trio: Funambule As a sideman or co-leader: Rosario Giuliani: More than ever Elisabeth Kontomanou: Midnight Sun Rick Margitza: Rue des Voleurs Ari Hoenig:
The Painter Jean-Michel Pilc / Hein Van De Geyn Duo: Sam Newsome
and Global Unity Elisabeth
Kontomanou: Hands and Incantation Richard Bona: Scenes from My Life Elisabeth
Kontomanou: Embrace J.D. Walter: Sirens in the C-House Jean Toussaint: Life I Want Aldo Romano: Prosodie Andre Ceccarelli: From The Heart Elisabeth
Kontomanou Martial
Solal/Eric Le Lann: |
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