Julien Daian is back with a new opus, “Suppose it is butter”, an enigmatic quote lifted from Gertrude Stein that sets the tone for the wildcard of French Jazz’s latest iconoclastic, trailblazing musical journey.
True to his unique form, the offbeat maestro has concocted an explosive cocktail of surprising collaborations, unexpected titles and nods to influences too eclectic for any musicologist / anthropologist / archaeologist to name. Still steadfastly refusing to be neatly labelled and put in a box “Suppose it is butter” is a testament to Daian’s ability to cut new grooves with well-worn tools, distilling influences into a zone of their own. No walls, no boundaries. Opening up with the rapturous “Bartz is a kid again”, a track brimming with all the easy sunshine of a stylized Harlem in an effervescent nod to the flamboyant funk of Gary Bartz, punctuated with the attitude of resounding Afro cuts. Nostalgia and progression moving forward in pure, blissful harmony. From there Daian takes a more ambient, down-tempo turn with “The play you play away”, inspired by the New York underground of Sam Wilkes and The Lounge Lizards. The Electric Dread himself, Winston McAnuff imparting his soulful wisdom against a hypnotic backdrop as hi-hats pitter-patter like light summer rain on a New York sidewalk…. . And then the sun comes out. Sweet and lowdown and pure Daian-ist dynamism. Next up, the voice of Daniel Auteuil whispers out of the smoke of a troubled and turbulent night on “Les musiciens dorment le matin” (The musicians sleep in the morning). Frenetic horns held high on an agile, pulsating beat, striking an off-kilter balance that swaggers through the nocturnal wanderings of a restless, partying heart that somehow finds its way to dawn.
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