The FIMAV festival offered the opening slot of its 25th edition to frequent participant and Montreal musique actuelle mainstay
Jean Derome, who rose to the occasion with, basically, a new band and two new long-form compositions.
Plates-Formes et Traquenards documents the event in stellar clarity.
Derome's
Dangereux Zhoms is a long-standing project, though it spent most of the 2000s under wraps. The unit had been reactivated in 2007 to release a new CD (To Continue), but none of that material is found here. However, the current
DZ lineup provides the backbone of the project:
Derome on flutes and saxophones (and some creative conducting), trombonist Tom Walsh, pianist Guillaume Dostaler, bassist
Pierre Cartier, and drummer Pierre Tanguay. Augmenting the group are a cross-section of Ambiances Magnétiques' larger circle of players, including vocalist
Joane Hétu, guitarist
Bernard Falaise (of
Miriodor fame), and turntablist
Martin Tétreault. This 12-piece ensemble performs two long suites (35 minutes each) by
Derome, compositions that blend his typical driving odd-metered themes -- the second and last parts of "Plates-Formes," part six of "Tranquenards," other sections, too -- with jazzier bits, textural playing, and improvised and semi-improvised sections in subgroupings. Overall, the project sounds like a cross between
Derome's jazzier writing and Canot-Camping, his conducted improv project. It is prime
Derome: soulful at times, perplexing at others, chaotic one moment, extremely well organized the next, both majestic (in a serial music way) and silly (in a circus fanfare way). A must for fans of
Derome's musique actuelle and an excellent audio recording to boot. ~ François Couture