For the follow-up of his ECM-leader-debut La traversée, French saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave expands his trio of German pianist Florian Weber and Swiss bassist Patrice Moret with the unique sensibilities of drummer James Maddren, whose unrelenting pulse adds deft counterpoint to the group’s already idiosyncratic sound.

Besides the soulfully angular rendering of John Coltrane’s “Compassion”, the quartet tackles eight Bordenave-originals that bridge the gap between chamber-jazz dynamics and post-swing designs. Weber and Bordenave’s oblique approach to their instruments – Bordenave can be heard on both tenor and soprano sax – coalesce seamlessly, spinning unanticipated lines over a highly interactive rhythm section.

The Blue Land was recorded in Pernes-Les-Fontaines in 2022, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

1. La Porte Entrouverte (5:43)
2. The Blue Land (5:21)
3. Compassion (5:32)
4. Cyrus (3:41)
5. Refraction (4:42)
6. Distance (4:01)
7. Three Four (6:04)
8. Timbre (4:41)
9. Three Peaks (4:16)

This magnificent sculpted, melodic majesty of sounds opens on the delicate elegance of La Porte Entrouverte and the foreboding, titular The Blue Land, and they are followed by the rangy John Coltrane cut Compassion, and then we get the gracefully tender Cyprus.

Along next is the heartwarming Refraction and the rhythmically-driven Distance and they are in turn backed seamlessly by the limber Three Four, the recording rounding out on the gently euphoric Timbre, closing on the deep-seated melodies formulated within Three Peaks.

Matthieu and Florian have been playing together for about ten years, originally collaborating on a project revolving around on the music of Edith Piaf – The Blue Land is their second studio collaboration to date.

The same is true for Patrice Moret, who joined the duo just before La Traversée. James Maddren can be heard here for the second time on the label, after his contribution as part of Kit Downes’s trio on 2022’s Vermillion.

The Blue Land was recorded in Pernes-Les-Fontaines in 2022 and produced by Manfred Eicher.

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