He plays with many jazz musicians, but Jean-Marc Hébert does not define himself as a jazzman. He was from Skalène and Ragleela, accompanied the flautist Catherine Potter and Lilison Di Kinara (with whom he is still playing this Saturday at the Francos), showing himself to be as comfortable in the Eastern and African musical universe as in the West. His game on Red earththe fourth track from his album The exploded originmoreover at times subtly recalls West Africa in the way he has to shell the notes or to build his melodic lines.
On this third album as a leader, the guitarist has surrounded himself with drummer Pierre Tanguay, a long-time accomplice, bassist Morgan Moore and trumpeter Lex French, to whom he leaves plenty of space. It is above all the latter that gives jazz colors to Jean-Marc Hébert’s compositions, even if the overall approach often evokes Scandinavian jazz by being more focused on atmospheres than virtuosity or harmonic deconstructions.
However, the alignment of the labels is not enough to express the poetry of these sometimes soothing compositions (The fading), sometimes almost epic (Waiting). These four musicians are clearly riding on the same magic carpet: rather than competing against each other, they join hands, make the short scale and pass the baton to paint sonic landscapes of great sensitivity, tinged not with esotericism, but with something spiritual.
Jean-Marc Hébert and his musicians will highlight the release of The exploded origin at the Dièse Onze on June 15 and 16. Performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each of these evenings. The album is offered on Bandcamp: https://jean-marchebert.bandcamp.com/album/lorigine-clat-e
Jazz/Instrumental
The exploded origin
Jean-Marc Hebert
Independent