Lost on the Way

Personnel: Louis Sclavis (clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone); Matthias Metzger (soprano & alto saxophones); Maxime Delpierre (guitar); Olivier Lete (bass); Francois Merville (drums).
Louis Sclavis: François Merville.
Personnel: Louis Sclavis (clarinet, soprano saxophone); Maxime Delpierre (guitar); Matthieu Metzger (soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Olivier Lete (upright bass, bass guitar); François Merville (drums).
Audio Mixers: Gérard De Haro; Louis Sclavis.
French clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Louis Sclavis has been prominent in Euro-jazz circles for most of the decade. Unlike many of his peers however, his brand of upscale eclectic jazz strives to be accessible to a rock audience, much like the John Zorn New York downtown scene. For instance, Sclavis has used the rock-based guitarist Maxime Delpierre on two of his ECM projects, 2005's L'AMPARFAIT DES LANGUES, and now LOST ON THE WAY, a series of compositions inspired by the travails of Ulysses in the ancient Greek epic THE ODYSSEY. Its not all as high-concept as that sounds, however. Thanks to Delpierre and drummer Francois Merville (who also played on L'AMPARFAIT), Sclavis's improvisations (or "travels" as he would have it) possess a lot more kick than the ECM ambient production would lead one to believe. Tracks like "De Charybde en Scylla" and "Un Vent Noir" are reminiscent of Weather Report or even Frank Zappa at their best. Scalvis himself plays fluently throughout--his frequent bass clarinet solos are especially intriguing in this context.