Michel Benita - Looking At Sounds (2020) [Hi-Res]

Algeria-born bassist Michel Benita, long a mainstay of the French jazz scene, introduces his revised quartet: Michel Benita: double bass, laptop; Matthieu Michel: flugelhorn; Jozef Dumoulin: Fender Rhodes, electronics; Philippe Garcia: drums, electronics. Swiss flugelhornist Matthieu Michel and French drummer Philippe Garcia are retained from Benita's Ethics band, and the quartet is completed by Belgian keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin. Dumoulin's swirling, floating sounds and colours - he sounds like no other Fender Rhodes player - have inspired Benita to write evocative new music for the group. The repertoire also includes a bewitching cover version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Inutil Paisagem", the freely improvised title track, and a touching solo bass interpretation of Jule Styne's "Never Never Land". A musician at the heart of the French jazz scene since the early 1980s, Michel Benita (born in Algiers in 1954) honed his craft in the clubs and concert halls of Paris, working with an ever-changing cast of visiting stars, local players and expatriates. The original bassist in France's Orchestre National de Jazz, he made his ECM debut as a member of Andy Sheppard's Trio Libero, in 2011, also appearing on Sheppard's Surrounded by Sea (2014) and Romaria (2017). His first disc as a leader for the label was River Silver, recorded in 2015, with his group Ethics. Benita writes most of the ensemble's material, his compositions often built around a strong melodic line, a tendency that may reflect the bassist's deep affection for folk music, which has long paralleled his commitment to jazz. 'Looking At Sounds' was recorded at Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in March 2019.

Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn),
Jozef Dumoulin (fender Rhodes & FX),
Philippe Garcia (drums & sampler)
Michel Benita (bass & laptop)