All About Jazz (Canada) Ottawa International Jazz Festival, June 26th, 2006
...The 4 pm Connoisseur Series continued its winning streak with French saxophonist Jean-Christophe Béney and his quartet. Béney, a fine tenor player from France who is known to some Canadians for his two records on the Montreal-based Effendi Records label-Polychromy (2004) and Cassiopée (2002)-is, in fact, moving to Montreal later this summer. Based on yesterday's performance, that's great news for the Canadian scene in general, and the Montreal scene in particular.
Unlike those two recordings, which teamed Béney with artists from France, his Ottawa performance featured a quartet of outstanding Canadian musicians. Pianist John Roney is no stranger to Ottawans, having played with local bassist John Geggie, as well as bassist Adrian Cho and his Magic of Miles Davis show at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage back in the winter of 2005. He's recently released his first record as a leader, Rate of Change (Effendi, 2006), and since moving to Montreal from Toronto a few years ago he's established himself as a fixture on that scene.
A remarkable pianist, Roney brings together a multitude of sources into a style that can range from pensive introspection to overt expressionism. Yesterday's performance found him splitting his time equally between acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, and he clearly appreciates the difference in approach that each instrument demands. His solos, as harmonically complex as they often were, always told vivid stories, and the audience's response to his playing was considerably more energetic than the reaction to Robert Glasper the day before.
Bassist Fraser Hollins is an Ottawa ex-pat who has also made the move to Montreal. He's a player with a rich tone, an unerring sense of groove, and ears open enough to respond to his surroundings without losing the core of Béney's deceptive compositions. Hollins received few opportunities to solo, but when he did, he was, like Roney, a player with a narrative in mind.
The surprise of the set was drummer Greg Ritchie. Even though he looks like he's just started shaving, Ritchie's playing was reminiscent of the late Tony Williams, but filtered through Brian Blade's even more liberated and highly fluid approach. Capable of providing a rock-solid rhythm, he remained nevertheless unpredictable in the best possible way, injecting surprising and sometimes powerful shots that may have seemed like non sequiturs at first, but ultimately and always made perfect musical sense.
Béney's writing couched complex harmonic changes in simple melodies. He understands the meaning of space, which made those moments when Béney and the rest of the quartet really let loose and became collectively denser all the more meaningful. Béney plays with a strong tone, but also appreciates how dynamics can sometimes suggest greater power, occasionally blowing so softly as to be nearly a whisper.
The set list was comprised exclusively of Béney's challenging to play but listener-friendly writing. The entire quartet was completely committed from the first note, again in contrast to Glasper's show the previous day. Hopefully when Béney relocates to Montreal later this summer, he'll be able to continue working with this quartet. The chemistry was strong and the performance was filled with many magical moments of pure synchronicity.
John Kelman