Presse Internationale -- U.S.A.


Juin 2000

Volume 26 N°6


Reviews

Nelly Pouget

" Fraîcheur Cuivrée "

2) NELLY POUGET, FRAICHEUR CUIVREE, MINUIT REGARDS 27999.
Carnaval Africain / Balafon/No Violence A La Tele / Fraîcheur Cuivrée / Champ Libre / Goutle D'Or D'Amour / Transporls D'Amour/Recréation D'Anges. 45:35.
Pouget, as, ss, ts, perc, balafon, sanza, vcl 6/17/99,
Limousin, France.

French reedist Pouget has gone the solo route on (2) with a large power center that includes gongs, sanza, balafon, and percussion in addition to her normal alto, tenor, and soprano instrumentation. Her chosen venue at a contemporary art center with reverberant acoustics allowed her to develop spiraling waves of sound that momentarily hung in the air as the next notes were introduced. She uses the various African instruments to set a rhythmic sound stage that augments the deep resonance coming from her horns. Pouget spent two years in Africa, and the musical influences of that continent are evident in her playing. In addilion, she incorporates a form of African chanting on one song, providing more evidence of the cultural exchange.

The program is divided into eight solo recitations. On each, Pouget builds the piece in logical sequence as she delves into and spins around a theme statement. She then takes phrases from the song and continues in her sonic exploration of intricately layered tones. Although the selections are totally free statements, they have a sense of body to them to preclude their being simply random exercises on her horns. Pouget generates a very full and room-filling tone from each of her reeds. There is no timidity in her playing nor is there anytenta tiveness. She muscles her way into the program and expels sonic fullness that includes ringing tones of startling clarity.

This is Pouget's fourth recording as leader. On the other three, she played with pianists Horace Tapscott, Marilyn Crispell, or Siegfried Kessler in solo arena has plenty of substance to compensate fully for the lack of other instruments and is buoyed by the rich tone that she produces from each horn. I consider it a very successful solo outing.

Frank Rubolino