A trio to listen to

Our cultural weekend theme continued today with a visit to the Cité de la Musique near the Parc de la Villette. We were invited to watch the Jobic Le Masson trio in concert as part of the ongoing tribute to Serge Gainsbourg (more about the exhibition later on) at the Cité. I’d first heard the jazz trio play at Sunside at the launch of Hill, their first CD and was very impressed with their music. All but one of the songs in Hill are original compositions of Jobic Le Masson and I’m proud to say that he is as talented as the reviews say. And the cd as good as the reviews. Since the first concert, I’ve tried to watch their concerts as often as I could. Today was another good occasion to listen to them play and once again they didn’t disappoint. Playing in three sets of half an hour each, the trio played a selection of Gainsbourg tunes adapted in their inimitable jazz style. And while I confess to have a preference for the piano, Peter Giron on bass and John Betsch on drums are by no means laggards in musical talent. What is really cool about their group is the obvious ease (even affection) they have with each other which translates into a melodious collaborative effort among the three. And for the audience it is a real pleasure to listen to their seamless and always innovative way of playing. Today this ease was once more on display at the concert and if a number of their audience were below the majority age, all the better for them to discover early on what great jazz should sound like.

Here's John on drums..

Lest you remain unconvinced, I invite you to listen to the trio play and discover for yourself the music of the Le Masson trio. Here is the website where you can check for their concert schedules and listen to extracts of their music. http://jobic.lemasson.free.fr/

Here is their CD ...