Pierre Antoine - Urbex (2016)

Antoine Pierre group was born between two stages of this young drummer’s life. On one hand, there’s Brussels, where Antoine has finished his master degree at the Royal Conservatory and, on the other hand, there’s New York, where he settled in September 2014 (Antoine has previously played with Philip Catherine, Fabrizio Cassol and Enrino Pieranunzi).

Antoine Pierre Group invites us to rediscover existing pieces of music but also, for the first time, Antoine presents us his own compositions. Beside him, three horn players, a pianist, a percussionist, a guitarist and a bassist. The leader could allow his imagination free rein in his compositions with exploiting the potentials offered by the acoustic and electric instruments. As a lover of metropolitan areas, he creates urban universes, sometimes energetic and sometimes apocalyptic. His inspirations are numerous: Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau, Aka Moon,… but also Haitian and Senegalese music. This project is an academic point of arrival resembling a starting point in Antoine Pierre’s musician life…

«The tunes are sophisticated, deeply thought through, with all the chaos (…) and the resolutions they need to get back to the melodies. It is a real painter’s work that depicts wide landscapes providing sensations. Not only is there something of Claude Monet in the fluidity, the impression but also from Spilliaert in the mystery. And finally something of Pollock in the energy, the dynamics and the explosion of colors. You’ll hear about that band.» J-C Vantroyen, Le Soir

Tracklist:

01. Coffin for a Sequoia (To Basquiat)
02. Litany for an Orange Tree
03. Who Planted This Tree?
04. Les douze marionnettes (Dedicated to the Memory of Francis Houtteman)
05. Urbex
06. Metropolitan Adventure
07. Walking on a Vibrant Soil
08. Wandering, No. 1
09. Metropolitan Adventure (Reprise)
10. Moon's Melancholia
11. Ode to My Moon

Personnel:

Toine Thys - tenor sax, bass clarinet
John Paul Estiévenart - trumpet
Steven Delannoye - tenor sax
Bram De Looze - piano
Bert Cools - electric guitar
Felix Zurstrassen - electric bass
Frédéric Malempré - percussion
Antoine Pierre - drums, arrangements, compositions