Cortège d’Alsaxy was originally conceived by Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca to be part of an installation for Le Shadok, in Strasbourg in the autumn of 2015. Alsaxy consisted of a background video (Cortège, to which this project refers), which shows a bizarre marching parade passing through the Hautepierre district of Strasbourg. The Hautepierre district is made up of various hexagonal block sections (‘mailles’) The parade unfolds through six of them: The specific mailles being: “Eleonore”, “Brigitte”, “Catherine”, “Karine”, “Parc des Sports”, “Jacqueline”, which are represented by the names of the sections in the score.
As a consequence of the particular arrangement in Alsaxy, the music has a processional/parade/march quality to it, coupled with a punkish, rickety, energetic mood. The graphical score, set for 3 basses, guitar, trumpet and drums, was projected onto a screen with a real-time advancing cursor that allowed for synchronization between the performers. As a clear rhythmic structure was a demanded feature of the piece, various drum patterns were recorded prior to the performance and sent through headphones to the drummer. Although these pre-recorded patterns were meant to act as a guide for the percussionist there is also an instruction in the score to vary these themes.
The album includes the score.
PRESS
Composer and electric bass player Andrea Valle’s Cortège d’Alsaxy (off Southampton, England’s The Silent Howl) offers some seriously rambunctious European free-jazz… no overly-intellectual trepidation and collar-wringing included or allowed! The six pieces arranged here were originally commissioned as the soundtrack to the ALSAXY interactive installation in Strasbourg, France: a procession through six blocks of the Hautepierre district of Strasbourg. With the snarl (definitely a snarl) of Carlo Barbagallo’s electric guitar ever present and Dario Bruna’s thrashing, pulverizing drums easily bringing to mind Chris Cutler at his most punishing, Valle’s compositions would hold a strong attraction to free jazz fans who like to dally on the avant-rock side of things. It’s short, sweet, and hits hard. And it’s most definitely worth your time. (Foreign Accents)
Le tracce composte da Andrea Valle ed eseguite da un sestetto che vede all’opera ben tre bassi, chitarra, tromba e batteria strutturano un universo vorticoso e spiazzante cadenzato da pulsazioni, che malgrado l’impronta marziale, determinano continui ed inaspettati cambi di direzione. Lungo l’accidentato tracciato ritmico si avvolgono le abrasive tessiture della chitarra e si ergono i fraseggi acidi e allucinati della tromba che costantemente si riallineano alle variazioni repentine, costruendo un percorso barcollante ma mai sconnesso lungo i sei isolati del distretto Hautepierre di Strasburgo coinvolti dal corteo, i cui nomi danno il titolo ai sei brani. Che l’incedere sia più caotico e sofferente (“Brigitte”) o maggiormente costante ed esplosivo (“Karine”) immutato resta il senso di stridente conflittualità tra uno spazio fisico dalla struttura chiara e razionale ed un universo sonoro ricco di sorprendenti variabili che sfuggono a qualsivoglia classificazione. (P. Trotta, SoWhat)
Cosa si ascolta in questo lavoro di breve durata? Qui viene il bello, difficile dare una descrizione precisa del matematico (sembra un paradosso…) magma sonoro che scaturisce da qui, però ci provo: frustate jazz-core con tromba in modalità free in “Brigitte”, pericolosi crash che potrebbero alla lontana ricordare il John Zorn dei Naked City (ma in combutta coi Primus), una sorta di marcetta math-core sempre ottundente in “Catherine”… Insomma il mal di testa e un ipotetico principio di esaurimento nervoso sono garantiti; credo siano tra gli obiettivi di Valle, ma è chiaro che non c’è solo questo. Maneggiare con cura… (M. Inchingoli, The New Noise)
credits
released June 21, 2016
Composition and programming:
Andrea Valle
Performers:
Michele Anelli (bass 1)
Carlo Barbagallo (guitar)
Dario Bruna (drums)
Federico Marchesano (bass 2)
Andrea Valle (bass 0)
Kei Yoshida (trumpet)
Recorded on 14/07/2015 by Lorenzo Abattoir at Superbudda Creative Collective, Torino
An ambitious cross-genre journey from the Richmond Avant Improv Collective, who bring in 17 (!) guest musicians to fill out their vision. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 12, 2021