(Avant-Garde Jazz) Impression - Le benefice du doute - 2004, MP3, 320 kbps

Though it was always urban, Impression’s music is now clearly oriented towards rock, while still mixing written music and improvisation. Always on the lookout for new sounds, the quintet allows for unusual uses of instruments, unexpected combinations, and limitless experiments. The influences are numerous, but always kept at a distance: we can hear echoes of Ornette Coleman, Paul Motian, Tim Berne, Steve Coleman or Jim Black… A hybrid universe, which plays on confrontations between the acoustic and the electric, where rhythm is of the essence, as well as a dynamic exchange between the band members. This music is free, contrasted, electric; it evades us, but still creates a whole world of its own, dense and eclectic.
“The ideas keep flowing, rhythmic, melodic, taking the shape of ostinatos giving birth to one another, passing from an instrument to another, superimposing one another, wandering into deceptively popular tunes, unwinding an endless melodic thread, turning to improvisation, in accordance with always renewed meters, shapes, and sound palette. Coleman disciples (those who follow both Steve and Ornette) will feel at home, but there are the undeniable influences of Tim Berne on the writing and improvisational patterns, and of John Zorn on the various slashes at instrumental orthodoxy. This is already well played and full of promises for the future. JAZZMAN (september 2004) – Franck Bergerot