In Spirit Tribute To Don Pullen + The Bridge #2.4

IN SPIRIT Tribute to Don Pullen

France

Within an intensely grooving trio, Toulouse-based Betty Hovette captures the spirit of Don Pullen, one of the most distinctive pianists in Afro-American free jazz.

Far from being a mere tribute, which Pullen himself would have rejected, Don Pullen—who serves as both mentor and model to Betty Hovette—left a significant mark on the music world through his drive to transcend divides, drawing from a multitude of stylistic sources. This lesson is at the heart of In Spirit, a project that honors a musician who shone both alongside Art Blakey, Nina Simone, Charles Mingus, and Richard Abrams, and as a leader of his own bands. Straddling total improvisation and thematic reinterpretation, this trio navigates between expansive jazz and intimate chamber music, seeking above all to evoke emotion.

Betty Hovette: piano, Sébastien Bacquias: double bass, Fabien Duscombs: drums

A co-production by Freddy Morezon and Jazz Pyr.

Supported by DRAC Occitanie, the Occitanie Region, and the Haute-Garonne Departmental Council.

THE BRIDGE #2.4 Morphose

United States, France

The transatlantic network The Bridge bends in every direction but does not break. It brings us from Chicago an asymmetrical formation, where the apparent instrumental imbalance reveals other, more fragile and adventurous equilibria.

These five free spirits, who had never played together before meeting in the Windy City in April 2022, gathered around a singular imperative: the desire to explore a musical territory saturated with waves and shadows, here and now, right at this moment. This includes one of Chicago’s most renowned poets and visual artists—also a musician in his richly idle hours—and a violinist completely liberated from conventions. From the new wave emerging from France: a seismic and sinuous saxophonist, a rocky and irreverent bassist, and a truly unpredictable keyboardist. The art of improvisation in its least strict sense, like a cartography of the sensitive.

Damon Locks: electronics, voice, Macie Stewart: violin, voice, Morgane Carnet: tenor and baritone saxophones, Jozef Dumoulin: keyboards, electronics, Fanny Lasfargues: electroacoustic bass

The Bridge is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sacem, the National Music Center, Spedidam, Adami, the French Institute, Experimental Sound Studio, and the University of Chicago.

acrossthebridges.org

thebridgesessions.bandcamp.com