(Ethnic Jazz, Klezmer, World Fusion) Jean-Willy Kunz - Impressions - 2017, MP3, 320 kbps

The organ is often associated with the church, with an austere and codified musical repertoire, and with an audience from another era. Over the course of centuries, from the Middle Ages to the present, it has sometimes been a simple bystander in the history of music, but at others a key agent developing musical style. Now, in today’s era of cultural convergence and artistic crossbreeding, Impressions presents the organ in an atypical role as, accompanied by instruments with which it rarely associates, it embarks on a musical journey in search of original repertoire.
As I sit at the console of the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique installed in Maison Symphonique de Montréal, I am joined by André Moisan, Hélène Lemay, Frédéric Alarie, and Paul Picard.
The musical kaleidoscope we offer you on this disc bears witness to the wide spectrum of our respective musical influences, from the traditional dance music of eastern Europe, via klezmer, to jazz. The organ becomes a versatile and unifying instrument, capable of unexpected sonorities. Its rich timbres provide an ideally textured background for improvisations on the clarinet, saxophone, and trombone. With its large range it can rival the double bass in the low registers, and join with the percussion to complete the rhythm section of this extraordinary quintet.
Jean-Willy Kunz (Translated by Sean McCutcheon)