Jean Derome
Confitures De Gagaku
Les Disques Victo (Canada) 1988
VICTO 05 (LP) w/original inner sleeve.
sleeve : NM(IN SHRINK)
media : EX-/EX-(some light surface noises caused by small and slightly wear.)
The album was released in 1988 by Montreal multi-instrumentalist Jean Derome, who was a central figure in Nebu, the first avant-jazz group in Quebec, Canada, and who collaborated with Rene Lussier on the famous 1986 album "Soyez Vigilants, Restez Vivants". As you can imagine from the title, this album was inspired by Gagaku, a Japanese classical art form. A combo of wind instruments, percussion, synthesizers, and other instruments, the album presents chamber music-like deep spiritual jazz with a sense of Japanese wabi-sabi. Featuring a female vocalist, the floating music features poems by Kawai Kanjiro, a Japanese ceramicist who showed his talent in a wide range of fields such as sculpture, calligraphy, poetry and essays. The inner sleeve features haiku and tanka poems by Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Issa, and Yosa Buson in French, showing Jean Derome's deep knowledge of Japanese culture, and B3 has an atmosphere similar to US black jazz/spiritual jazz like Archie Shepp. Highly recommended.
A5: Ouareau (Haikus)B3: Moon in Me