Bruno Angelini • Joe Fonda • Ramón López
«Silent Cascade»

• Bruno Angelini - piano
• Joe Fonda - double bass
• Ramón López - drums, percussion

1. perpetual motion 4:28
2. silent cascade 6:43   full title
3. soplo 4:40
4. passing by 3:20
5. dense crowd 6:27
6. ilots coulants 4:31
7. corazon 5:57   full title
8. ephemerals 5:16
9. woman walking by 4:09   full title
10. passées sans retour 5:33

• About the musicians
• Linernotes
• CD Reviews

About the musicians

Bruno Angelini was born in Marseille (France) in 1965. From 6 years old until fifteen, he learned classical piano at the conservatory, then he began to be interested in jazz music. He started few years later to study with Guy Longnon in Marseille's conservatory, then with Sammy Abenaïm at the CIM (a Paris school). He also went back to written music and re-studied : Debussy, Bartok, Messiaen...
From 1995, he started playing with many groups in lot of places mainly in Europe and Africa. He played as a side man with great musicians: Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Riccardo Del Fra, Jean Luc Cappozo, Joe Fonda, Francesco Bearzatti, John Betsch, Ramon Lopez, Jean-Jacques Avenel... He was also involved in many projects like: Thierry Péala "Inner traces", Xavier Cobo quartet, "Moïra Malien Project"... In 2003, he recorded with his own trio "Empreintes" for Sketch Records with Riccardo Del Fra and Ichiro Onoe. In 2004, he wrote music ordered by the Chatelet's theater for baroc singer: Gérard Lesne and bass player: Jean Philippe Viret. In 2005, he recorded with Thierry Péala and Sylvain Beuf.
He just record a solo album to be sold at the end of August 2006 for the jazz label called "minium". He has been teaching jazz piano at "Bill Evans Piano Academy" since 1996.

Ramón López was born in Alicante (Spain) on the 6th August, 1961. He is a drummer, percussionist and composer. He began studing drums in the mid seventies. In 1980 he saw Max Roach in concert: it influenced him definitely in to his musical approach. In 1985 he decided to move to Paris. He meet progressively and played with Beñat Achiary, Majid Bekkas, Anthony Coleman, Agustí Fernández, Glenn Ferris, Barry Guy, Charles Gayle, Howard Johnson, Hans Koch, Daunik Lazro, Jeanne Lee, Thierry Madiot, Roscoe Mitchell, Joe Morris, Ivo Perelman, Enrico Rava, Paul Rogers, Louis Sclavis, Alain Silva, Archie Shepp, John Surman, Claude Tchamitchian, Mal Waldron, Christine Wodraschka... He studied in the same time Indian classical music (tabla) with Krishna Govinda K.C. and Subhankar Banerjee. He is teaching tabla and Indian music in the National Conservatory of Paris. His first record as a leader was a drums solo edited by the Great Britain label: Leo records in 1997. After that he worked on a reinterpretation of "Songs Of The Spanish Civil War" in 2001. In 2002 he played a hommage to Roland Kirk: "Duets To Rahsaan Roland Kirk". Between 1997 and 2000 he played with the O.N.J. (National Jazz Orchestra) conducted by Didier Levallet. Recently he recorded with Sophia Domancich and Joelle Leandre a new "Flowers Of Peace" for Leo records.

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews

Liner Notes

This trio recording with Ramon and Bruno and myself is our first and for sure it will not be our last. As I look back to the session I remember the ease with which the music flowed, swayed, swirled, swung and moved from one corner of our collective musical universe to the other.

As you listen to this music you will hear this it is self evident, it will be a journey for you as it was and still is for us. There was a lot of joy and fun at this recording session, this is another thing I hear and you will also when we listen to this music. It celebrates our lives our childrens live, it sings it crys, it loves its struggles, it builds bridges between different cultures between different people who did not know each other but needed to. Yes this brings music us together, Merci Bruno Gracies Ramon.

Many thanks to Manfred at Konnex records for Continued support of my music. For without him the music would never finds its to the people who need it and want to experience it.

Joe Fonda, 18th March 2006

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews

All liner notes written by Joe Fonda → Overview of all CD/LP reviews and liner notes

CD Reviews

• Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery
• Marc Medwin for All About Jazz
• Jérôme Gransac for Citizen Jazz French language
• Tristan Loriaut for LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU JAZZ French language

Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery

Featuring local contrabass great Joe Fonda, Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez and French pianist Bruno Angelini. The ever exuberant, Joe Fonda, is one of my favorite bassists and I am always amazed by the number of different projects that he is involved with. I just caught the great FAB Trio (w/ Billy Bang & Barry Altschul) up at Guelph and I am consistently knocked by each and every release by the Fonda/Stevens Group (10+ discs), Conference Call (4 CDs) and the Nu Band. Plus Joe can be heard on a half dozen discs by Mr. Braxton. Drummer, Raymon Lopez, has been working with a number of other strong players over the past few years and can be heard on recordings with Ivo Perelman, the National Jazz Orchestra and a great trio with Joelle Leandre & Sophia Domancich. I was not familiar with the pianist, Bruno Angelini, before this, although he has played with Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone and John Betch.
Beginning with "Perpetual Motion", we know we are in store for something very special. Bruno opens the piece with harp-like cascades on the piano, as the drums and bass swirl magically in waves together. Absolutely stunning. What I dig about this trio is the focused balance of all the elements, no one ever steps on the other two. Ramon Lopez often deals in colors and textures, using brushes, bells and hand percussion and never just bashing. Considering that Bruno Angelini is a new name for many of us, he is quite extraordinary throughout this disc, spinning webs of notes, layers of lines without going to far. My man, Joe Fonda, gets his chance to shine as well, pinching out those magical harmonics and softly singing along as he weaves his lines. When Bruno uses his hand to muffle notes inside the piano, Ramon switches to wooden percussion and Joe squeezes out his own sparks, making another magical blend of the natural, acoustic elements. What is amazing is that all three of these men are from different cultures and backgrounds, yet they work together as one unified trio that has played together for a long, long while.

Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Lee Gallanter.

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews

All reviews written by Bruce Lee Gallanter → Overview of all CD/LP reviews and liner notes

Multiple review by Marc Medwin for All About Jazz, published May 5, 2007

These two recent trio releases find American bassist Joe Fonda refining his already diverse sonic palette; they present perfect environments in which to do so, as they are delightfully beyond category.

Circle the Path opens, surprisingly, with a bit of back masking, setting the stage for a beautifully and hauntingly psychedelic four-and-a-half minutes of slowly arching drone. Fonda's arco work is matched by violinist Jesse Zubot's, with gorgeously varied vibrato from both musicians.

"Low Blues" is a case in point, Fonda and Zubot sounding as one instrument, Jean Martin's drums providing rumbling approval. Indeed, each track presents a multitude of textural and compositional twists, "Low Blues" initially more like a Ligeti transcription than a blues. When the down-and-dirty rhetoric does finally kick in, all three players are proven well versed, Fonda and Martin deep inside the pocket, Zubot just that tantalizing bit behind as he evokes all manner of slides, groans and whispers from his instrument. "Next Step", one of the disc's most powerful statements, shows Fonda at his most 'jazzy', as he constructs a slowly building solo that gives way to a fierce gallop, over which Zubot engages slow exoticism with not a hint of parody or pretension.

While much of the music on Circle the Path is composed, some of it almost invoking Braxton filtered through Stravinski, Silent Cascade is completely improvised. Even so, the first few minutes of "Perpetual Motion" speak to a unified aesthetic of open exploration, time and pulse suspended, or transcended, in a swirling orchestral vortex, largely of pianist Bruno Angelini's making. Here, Fonda is as much a percussionist as Ramon Lopez, slapping out rhythmic counterpoint to the piano's darkly pastoral arpeggiated hues. Fonda and Lopez interact similarly on "Ephemerals", this time joined in post-Monk territory by Angelini, whose ululations add a layer of enthusiasm to an already exuberant session.

In its finest moments, this trio sounds larger than it really is, as with "Dense Crowd"; it is refreshingly difficult to tell which musician is responsible for the perfect placement of each sonic object. Indeed, having Fonda in the fold pushes both groups beyond their already exemplary musicianship and further contributions from these exciting trios are welcome!

Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2007 All About Jazz and Marc Medwin.

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews

All reviews written by Marc Medwin → Overview of all CD/LP reviews and liner notes

Jérôme Gransac for Citizen Jazz, published February 9, 2007

Commençons par le commencement : quel disque fantastique ! Angelini est omniprésent, donne vie aux mélodies et semble attendre de Lopez qu’il joue le rôle de leader. Ce dernier soude et dessoude son trio. « Silent Cascade » est une ballade menée par Angelini et Fonda mais que fait respirer Lopez. Par pointes percussives, il fait battre le cœur du morceau ou l’atténue par une complicité quasi télépathique avec le pianiste. Fonda et Angelini dialoguent pour de vrai, l’art du trio est ici redéfini. Sur « Soplo », la batterie est un arbre à sens : Lopez est le vent qui agite cet arbre, sa sève. Clochettes, cymbales, gong et diverses percussions en sont les racines profondes. Lopez répond admirablement aux assauts sonores d’Angelini qui fait preuve d’une imagination et d’une précision rythmique indiscutables pour un morceau au flux tendu, renversant et mouvant. « Dense Crowd » illustre la complémentarité des membres du trio par "cotonnades" rythmiques et sonores, un torrent de notes et d’idées — cascades d’aigus, filets de médiums à l’étouffée, « céramiques » frappées, cymbales et balais à peine effleurés et basse sourde unifiant le trio. Angelini est étonnant dans l’improvisation, Lopez dans l’à-propos sur ce morceau à l’âme délicate. « Corazon » est un duo Lopez/Fonda aux tablas et balais pour un raga décoré par Angelini, qui développe sur le fil une mélodie qui en dit long sur son intelligence et sa spontanéité mélodiques. Il ajoute des onomatopées, son chant de pianiste... Purement transcendant, dansant et sensuel, voire animal. On a là un trio très robuste et d’une grande générosité.

Copyright © 2007 Citizen Jazz and Jérôme Gransac.

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews

Tristan Loriaut for LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU JAZZ

Surprenant. Saisissant. Il n'est pas de superlatif plus approprié pour définir ce « Silent Cascades », disque enregistré en 2005 sur le label Konnex d'un remarquable trio autour de Joe Fonda, contrebassiste américain, accompagné par le pianiste Bruno Angelini et le batteur Ramon Lopez. Dès la première « prise », si j'ose dire, l'auditeur assiste à la naissance du son, par un magma impénétrable et bouillonnant. Ce « Perpetual Motion » met en garde quiconque s'aventurant sur ce chemin improvisé. Au détour de ce sinueux chemin, allongez-vous sur la rive d'un torrent. Il pleut, la tempête s'annonce. Les oiseaux ne volent pas près du sol, ils se sont déjà réfugiés. Il n'y a que vous et le déchainement des éléments. La Musique nous rappelle parfois qu'elle était là bien avant l'Homme, partie intégrante de cette indomptable Nature qui nous entoure, encore pour combien de temps, faut-il le rappeler. Ce disque en est le plus fabuleux des témoignages. Par ce non-conformisme. Cette utilisation des contrastes et de ces couleurs savoureuses qui se goûtent. Enregistré librement autour d'un texte d'Henri Michaux ayant pour titre « Poteaux d'angles », ces trois musiciens usent de la plus savante des façons les principes mêmes de la Musique acoustique, comme par exemple dans ce morceau intitulé « Dense Crowd », où une simple feuille de papier insérée entre les cordes et la touche de la contrebasse transforme le son et donne un nouveau visage à cet instrument, d'habitude si discret. Il y a là une ahurissante recherche contemporaine de l'interaction. Sombrer sans amarres dans cet impressionnisme relève d'une très grande maîtrise de son propre art. Magnifiant chaque geste, chaque intention. Développer le rêve par la négation de toute tonalité, de toute création théorique humaine. Faire croire un instant que le calme est revenu, et repartir de plus belle dans le plus fracassant des chaos. On dirait presque que le piano n'existe pas, ou plus, que la contrebasse à disparu, que la batterie cesse d'exister pour laisser transparaitre à la place une voix intérieure, très profonde, guidé par les instincts les plus animaux, provoquant alors la résonnance de nos plus lointaines origines. Parler de Poésie serait revenir à l'humain. Ces bijoux de créativité ne peuvent subsister que dans l'aléatoire. C'est dans ce hasard que parfois l'on effleure l'intouchable, l'invisible, je dirais même le sublime. Se séparer de toute image moderne et actuelle, ignorer un instant l'abrutissante façon de vivre des êtres humains. Se concentrer à ressentir, à deviner, à réagir. Au cours de l'écoute d'un tel disque, nos sentiments sont mis à rude épreuve à travers chaque ambiance, et on en redemande. Il n'est pas nécessaire de citer des exemples qui, dans le passé, furent les avant-gardistes de cette nouvelle chose qu'était le Free-Jazz. Il est ici seulement question de l'essence même de la Nature, avec tout ce qui comporte de tortueux, d'imparfait, mais aussi de simple, d'unique. C'est un disque qui non seulement s'écoute, mais qui se vie.

Copyright © 2009 LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU JAZZ and Tristan Loriaut.

About the musicians | Liner Notes | CD Reviews