Gaël Horellou - Organ Power! (2021)

This will be Gaël Horellou’s fifth CD for Fresh Sound. His involvement with the label goes back twenty years, when he was a young, promising alto saxophonist who came to Barcelona in search of new experiences with his friend, tenor David Sauzay. At the head of a contemporary bop quintet, the two young men demonstrated true mastery of their instrument and an overwhelming, contagious energy on stage. They created such an impact during the short time they spent in town, that I just had to ask them whether they wanted to record an album before going back to France. It was decided, then. Their album “Versus” was recorded in May 1999 with both saxophonists as co-leaders. That was the beginning of my admiration for this talented musician, but also of a long friendship.

Me and Gaël’s professional relationship has developed since then, with him recording three more albums for Fresh Sound, “Time After Time” (2011); “Brooklyn” (2013) and the popular “Coup de Vent” (2017), about which Bruno Peiffer wrote the following on his review for Libération: “It is not often you find a hard bop album where talent and respect abound, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on ‘Coup de Vent’, this little gem that alto saxophonist Gaël Horellou has recorded with trumpet player Jeremy Pelt in 2016 for the Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent.” Louis-Julien Nicolau also wrote about the album for Telerama, saying: “The hard bop here is delivered with abundant expressiveness and brilliance. But Horellou and his quintet don’t stop there: by playing this music as if it had been just invented, they attest to its timeless relevance.”

As a musician, Gaël never seems to stay comfortable for too long, something you can hear in the many formations he’s been part of. For that reason, his recordings are always a surprise for the listener, but if there’s something that never changes, it’s the source of his style, based in the language of hard bop; his sharp attack and phrasing, which have made him a musician respected by musicians and fans alike. That’s why I’m so happy to record with him this new project —“Organ Power!”— where the essence of ‘soul’ music and the audacity of “hard bop” will be tackled by a quintet with a frontline led by Gaël Horellou on alto with the trumpet of Pierre Drevet, Simon Girard on trombone and backed by a rhythmic section with the organ of Fred Nardin and Antoine Paganotti on drums. A group that is sure to bring us an excellent album.