Before settling in Gatineau, composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Schofield organized improvised ambient music sessions at the defunct Café Résonance, avenue du Parc, which inspired this third solo album of elegant melodic and harmonic simplicity. He, mainly on the piano, using Moog and Juno-6 synths sparingly, without ever overshadowing the timbres of his collaborators, Philippe Charbonneau (bass), Yolande Laroche (clarinet and vocals) and Mika Posen (violin). Their work is especially close to chamber music, postminimalist in spirit thanks to the piano motifs repeated in a loop that lead the violin orchestrations to the sky, where the clarinet notes swirl. Luminous album forcing comparisons with Eno’sAmbient 1: Music for Airports or the work of Ólafur Arnalds, but with more restraint and, above all, hope: there is, throughout the 44 minutes ofAmbient Ensemblea first impression of spring arriving soon.
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