press review of the album "around robert wyatt" by the french jazz national orchestra (bee030)

8/3/2019 Press Review of the album "Around Robert Wyatt" by the French Jazz National Orchestra (BEE030)

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WI REAdventures in ModernMusic

MensuelN de juillet 2009

......... ,."" D e JIIzzA round Robe rt Wyatt....... 1***...-c.-..._. r .. . . .' _ . . . . ._ - -.... & ....... c t. I ..... . . . . ~,_.... fill ... 1IPt,_ M .IIL __Robert Wyat t song SMfTI to s te rnfrom that of re ance lhat th eRomant ic poets held 80 dear. tt'a abouta suspension 01 ego that aIowI ne wo on n ec tio n8 to b 4 t made bltwMn th eauthor, t tW r envir onmen t lind th enatural W O I 1 c1 There 's a tenaion InWyrtI . ra W O f t d -v Ie w between th em Irld th e seneuaI thai make&his rooSic breathe with such humani ty .It that quality end !he esaendaIpI8IttcIy 01 his w o n < !hat arrangerO., . .1eI Yvtnec .xpIoita to tt.full he r '0CaroIne' beoomee an ~ballad that HeIb ~ might have~ ." ~A oIdaT~, ...". ewn more hypnagogthen 0I1g1nef WfIIon, while 'Just N.You Are ' wtth Sephatdc Ulger v .m and BelgIan blues eingef Arooaounda Ioooid ewn be .,.. ouUake

'1CUldtrad< for OneFrom The HMtt. It WOfb theMate sumptuoua, wann eettIngI that calfor. r88IralnIln the ~ 01 th e ONJand on e that Itduly given . If I have adoubt or quibble. it's alight thatthis somewha t p


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MOleMensuelN d'aoOt 2009

OrchestreNational DeJazz*round RobertWyatIn p d by and featuring,t forr So s d u er.As quint ssentially English as9 Grant. scones and jamand eric t on a summ r's daybut that hasn' prevented

Ro b rt '1ya from appeahr19to an audience be ond O ld8lighty'French II

was ritten by or isassociatedwi Wyatt and ea ures ourperformances from the Bristol-born sing r.Th 11-songalbum also has striking vocalcameos om Daniel Dare,Rokia raore,Yael Naim (on aspellbinding version ofShipbuilding), nd Iren Jacob.Ar nger Vince t Artaud,deer dit (or hiswonderfully sonorous GilEvans-like orchestral chart

Ch ar le s Wa rin g


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MensuelN d'aoOt 2009

O R C H E S m E : T l O A L D EJ A Z Z / D A N I E L Y V I N CAround Robert WyattB [JAZZ***renchjazz tribute tothe great man. Wyatt.mseH guestsA ich s 1 1 i din t rna ionalistai djazz fan ,on im in sRobert W 'aU

1 hrille to

.Arnpa ti n c c littl . JOHN Y


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MensuelN d'aoOt 2009

O RCHESTRE NATIO NAL DE JAZZ W ITH DAN IEL YV lNEC ARO UNDROBERT WYATT

Oooh la lalIt's a measure of the respect afforded to Robert Wyatt that Franoe's esteemed NatlonalJazz Orchestra, under the dlrectlon of bass maestro Daniel Yvlec, has deemed hiscatalogue worthy of relnterpretatlon. They present a mixed bag of Wyatt originals, somesongs he has become synonymous with (notably Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding) andothers chosen by the man himself. Vocal dutles fall to either Wyatt or a cast of Frenchvocalists, the most well-known on these shores being Camille.Unlike many similar exercises, these are not timid, po-faoed or overly respectfulrenditions of the material; rather they are colourful, brave and often touching versions thatseem borne out of a genuine love of the songs. Inthe sleevenotes Wyatt reflects, -I am

not a trained musician but If Iwere I'd like to think Iwould make records like this: He's being typically modest - hisstrengths as a composer shine through, while his understanding of Jazzcomposition, however accidentally accrued, Isespecially evident This is a must-hear for Wyatt fans, and a recommendation for the unconverted.

**ee Jazz I BEE 030Revewed by Jamie Atkins


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a l l - a b o u t J a z zSite internet30 mal 2009 1/2

Orchestre Na,tional die lazz:Around Robert WyattPublished; I~ay 3D, 2009

By Jeff Dayton-JohnsonOrchestra National de JazzAround Rqbert WyattBee Jazl2009

Hearing that France's National Jazz orchestra has prepared aprogram of music by Robert Wyatt, the venerable sage of Englishrock arid roll, is ihtriguing, but not necessarilv shocking. After all,the leqendarv Soft Machine, for which Wyatt served as drummerand vocalist in the 'late 1960s and early 19705, pushed prog rockfar into the direction of jazz-inspired improvisation. But AroundRobert Wyatt borrows almost nothlnq from the: Soft Machinesongbook and points instead toward Wyatt's solo career, dorrtlnated by political singer-sonqwriter fare. Wyatt's trim. angeliC;:voice is featured o n several tracks, arid a raft of French(or Francdphone.) Singers interpret the rernainder,

It's a quirky bet by the orchestra's new director, Daniel Yvinecj and it's a rousing success. Therecord is first of all a gorgeous ptece.of exquisitely orchestrated pop music, a modern variantof the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966); indeed, some of Wyatt's best work, with itsrnultt-lavered vocal sweetness, sounded 'like a distant cousin to the Californian group.It's also remarkably hip. Yvtnec's predecessor Franck Tortiller released an ON} tribute to LedZeppelin, the sond Close To Heaven (Le Chant du Monde, 2006); that was. clever; but theWyatt record seems to be really upping the ante ..In comparison, the Zep disc soundsendearlrrqlysquare. Now, pursuing hip runs the risk ofsacrtflcinq depth for tlasn. As If tostave off that danger, YVinec includes a splendid and rigorous readi.ng, of the title trackof theIOVl:~lyone-lost proq-classlcal-jezz hybrid KeW. Rhone. (VlrgiJi, 1917) by John Greaves, PeterBlegvad and Ltsa Herman (.a rumination on the exhumation of a mastodon that includes thefollowing palindrome in tts dense lyric: "Peel's foe, not a set animal, lamlnates a tone ofsleep"). No record featuring such a track could be accused O F being crassly fashionable.Yvinec generally enhances rather than radically raconflqures thesource material-the original"Just As You Are" also. featured a French singer's heavilv-accented English, for example. .Wyatt's 19805 records often featured him exclusively on overdubbed vocals and svntheslzers,Wyatt, who has been confined toa wheelchair since he fen from a third-story windowataparty in 1973, recently remarked Ina British rnustc maqazine that this reflected a sort of"paraplegic politk:;s"-,tryihg to demonstratethat he could do anything and evervthinq. Theorchestral fleshtrtq-out (for example, Elvis Costello's bitter "Shipbulldlnq," or "Del Mondo,"intoned by .actress Irene Jacob) remains true to the originals' spirit bu:t sounds appredablymore lush.


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Site internet30 mal 2009 212

Nowhere is this more, clear than on "Alliance," Wyates vituperative, venorn-drtpprnq screedagaInst the Britisl., upper class from his Old Rotten-hat (Rough Trade, 198.5)-the lyrics()bliquely refer the devastating Hk coal miners' strike. Here,i'Alllanee" is sung by Camillevecallstof the group Nouvelle Vague, known for their charmingly low-key, acoustic covers ofl.g~Os new wave ciasslcs, for "Alliance," arranger Vincent Artaud finds some brief horhherrnontes in Wyatt's chords; the result sounds 1 .1 1


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Site internetB mai 2009, 1/2

Orchestra National de Jazz. A round Robe rt Wyat tBBe ReviewChris JonesR ob ert W ya tt's s ta tu s a s a livIn g E ng lis h in stitu tio n n ow e qu alsth at o f, s ay , S te ph en Fry, So much so, that the re 's a dange r ofth e SI1Y. self-effacing man b ein g swamped by wearyinghyperbole. B ut, ju st a s y ou 're a bo ut to s urre nd er t o cynicism,

TracksThe Song (feat Robert Wyat.t)Allflb (feat Rokia Traore) along com es som ething. as w onde rfu l as A round R obe rt Wyat t :Just as Y ou Are (feat Ya el N aIrn , A rn o) a collaboration be tw ee n the be arde d one and banie l Y vine cCaroline (feat Danie l D a re ) and his Fre nch te n-pie ce O rche stre O ne liste n and any doubtsV ,e w Rho ne (fe at. Robert Wyatt) about Wyatt's ar e laid to rest.Shipbuilding (feat Yael Narm) The album does this Is by ta kin g Wyatt's c ompo sitio ns a s-w e llLine as his m ost fam ous cove r ve rsions (cf: Shipbuild ing), re -Alliance (feat Camflle) ca stin g th em in a ja zz s eWng , T he se : e xp an de d, JOY ou s,lim be rV an da l u sia (fe at. R ob ert Wya tt) e xplorations of the basic bone s of W yatt's w ork re ve alD e ' M ondo (fe at. Ire ne Jacob) structure s that are both rock solid and light as a fe athe r. H ardly

T e R ee ue rd o Ama nda (fe at. R ob ert W ya tt) s urp ris in g w he n yo u co ns ld er th ay w e re a ll o rig in ally w ritte nand pe rfo rmed by a jazz fan, albe it one w ho ne ve r conslderedRelease Details h lm se lr to b e a 'p ro pe r' m us lcia n.LabelSee Jazz H ig l1 1lg hts a re p oin tle ss s, b ut e as y e xamp le s a re R ck ia

R ele as e D a teM ay 11 2009 T ra ore 's in cre dib le re ad in g o f A lifib . T he ch ild -s pe ak o f th eCountryUn ite d K in gdom

Rock Bottom classic fits her mouth to a tee, The incredible duoo f Y ae l N alrn a nd A rn o, b alan ce d elica cy w ith ca rto on gru ffn es s

FormatCD to Ilig l1 lig ht Wya tt a nd p artn er A lfre da 8 e,.,g e~ s u n flin ch in g 1 00 1

press review of the album "around robert wyatt" by the french jazz national orchestra (bee030)

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