Les Porches

映画音楽等を手掛けながらも作品を残さぬまま解散した幻のジャズ/アート・ロックバンド:LASTING WEEPのJerome Langlois(p/key/cla)とAlain Bergeron(fl/sax)を中心に結成された、70年代カナダ/ケベックのプログレッシブ・ロックシーンを代表する名バンドの一つ、カナダ:Harvestからリリースされた'75年作2ndアルバムがカナダ:Return To Analogより500枚数量限定アナログ盤として'23年初のアナログ・リイシュー!

前作同様Jerome LangloisとAlain Bergeronを中心とするアコースティック/チェンバー色の濃いアンサンブルを軸にしつつ、よりダイナミズムを増したサウンドを披露する一枚。次作で正式加入するPaul Picard(xylophone)、Denis Lapierre(g)、ストリングス・セクション等ゲスト・ミュージシャンを効果的に用いた、次作で完成するクラシカルでありながらチェンバー・ミュージック系とは異なる優雅かつ柔和なサウンドを披露しつつ、クライマックスにケベックシーンの重鎮Raoul Duguay(tp/vo)のボーカルをフィーチャーした大曲'Les Porches De Notre-Dame'等、異色の楽曲も収録した重要作にして転機作となる一枚です!

While Maneige's first LP was largely the work of Jerome Langlois, Les Porches, released only a few month later, sees flutist/saxophonist Alain Bergeron providing most of the writing. Less successful artistically speaking, it takes the good ideas from the previous effort and turns them into excesses. The free/avant-garde vein has been toned down (except for a free coloratura passage in one section of "Les Aventures de Saxinette et Clarophone") and the symphonic blown out of proportion thanks to the addition of a string section. "Les Porches de Notre-Dame" is a 20-minute suite in six parts, all of them featuring virtuoso playing inspired by Bach and Haydn, but lacking in excitement and immediacy. Only the conclusion stands out, turning into a jazz-rock build-up with guest Raoul Duguay (ex-L'Infonie) providing some trademark vocals -- the sole inclusion of such on a Maneige album -- and trumpet. Still, solos are too long and self-indulging. "Les Aventures de Saxinette et Clarophone" (a mix-up between saxophone and clarinet, the main instruments of co-writers Bergeron and Langlois) is better written but lingers on nonetheless. It shows the influence of L'Infonie's "Paix" in its harmonic and rhythmic material. The prize-winning track on this weaker album is "Chromo," an intricate piece of music blending Gentle Giant's arrangements with Henry Cow's challenging harmonies. Here Langlois' playing seems to announce Ambiances Magnetiques' Robert Marcel Lepage; bringing the album to a close, it became the group's last piece to show leanings toward contemporary music. ~ Francois Couture