Renaud Garcia-Fons: Alborea auf CD

The most virtuosic bass player to come up in many years, Frenchman Renaud Garcia-Fons has been impressing listeners and musicians alike. German reed player Michael Riessler and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil repeatedly called for his services. An outstanding con-arco player, Renaud is also a member of French Orchestre de Contrebasses and recorded two albums in solo and duet settings that raised enormous attention among connoisseurs.

"Alboreá" (the title refers to Andalusian wedding-music) is the debut disc of Renaud's newly formed quartet. It features Parisian accordion master Jean-Louis Matinier (who recorded with Michael Riessler a. o.), Yves Torchinsky (Renaud's colleague in the Orchestre de Contrebasses), and extraordinary drummer (and singer) Jacques Mahieux (who even recorded with blues legend Champion Jack Dupree). The quartet's music is primarily inspired by the Mediterranean area which is a melting-pot for diverse cultural influences. In Renaud's tunes you can hear traces of flamenco, new musette, Greek, Spanish and African music, but also allusions to Latin America, India and the American Indians. The quartet's approach is light and subtle, yet at the same time highly virtuosic. Rooted in European folk traditions, this thrilling music displays the improvisational depth and swinging vitality of jazz.