The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra / Dieu Poulet
CD/DL : No Label – LGE01/1
Text by 剛田武 Takeshi Goda
The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra:
Mélissa Acchiardi : vibraphone, percussions, carillon
Lionel Aubernon : batterie, percussions, accordéon, instruments électroniques, carillon, poulet
Stéphanie Aurières : saxophone baryton
Aloïs Benoit : trombone, conque, flûtes à becs
Félicien Bouchot : trompette, bugle
Mathilde Bouillot : flûte, piccolo, voix
Captaine Saxo aka Thibaut Fontana : saxophone ténor, carillon, voix
Lucas Hercberg : basse, guitare, voix
Grégory Julliard : trombone, tuba
Emmanuelle Legros : trompette, bugle, voix
François Mignot : guitare
Antoine Mermet : saxophone alto, voix, bouche
Yannick Narejos : saxophone ténor et soprano
Benjamin Nid : saxophone alto
Alice Perret : piano, claviers, accordéon, cymbale, voix
Yannick Pirri : trompette, bugle
Corentin Quemener : batterie, percussions, jouets, voix
Laurent Vichard : clarinette, clarinette basse
Loïc Bachevillier : trombone (tracks 7,9)
Julien Chignier :saxophone alto (tracks 7,8)
1. Sexe !
2. Les anciens humains
3. Le costume
4. Range ta chambre : blucafete
5. Bleant
6. Aigue : Bossa aigue
7. Lune
8. Waiting for lips
9. Dieu Poulet
10. Tell me
Production : La Grande Expérimentale - www.toubifri.com
Enregistré en juillet et septembre 2020 Studio Rouge (Rivolet), Studio Supadope (Lyon), Les Subsistances (Lyon)
Prise de son et mixage : Franck Choko Rivoire
Mastering : Jérôme Rio
Et quand tout le monde chante, ça fait des choeurs !
Images : Lola Roubert
artwork : Bruno Belleudy
Cet album est dédié à Grégoire Gensse.
We are freedom, we are Toubifri !
⇒日本語レビューはこちら
Up and coming French Orchestra aiming for Freedom through Maximum Experimentation
"The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra" (VBETO) is an 18-piece big band based in Lyon, France. As "Toubifri" is French pronunciation for "To Be Free", the group's name means "an orchestra aiming for freedom through maximum experimentation". The orchestra was founded in 2006 with pianist Grégoire Gensse as its artistic director. As the name suggests, the orchestra's policy is to "push music to the limit". Gensse was 20 years old at the time. The ages of the members have not been disclosed, but from the photos and videos I've seen, it seems that they are all up-and-coming musicians of the same generation. Perhaps the band was formed mainly by music school students in Lyon, I guess.
They made their debut in 2014 with the album "Waiting In The Toaster". Their world, which opens with the slogan "We are freedom, We are Toubifri!", is an amalgam of avant rock (Frank Zappa, Henry Cow)/French prog (Gong, Magma)/chamber rock (Univeral Zero, Art Zoyd) and big band jazz from Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Count Basie to Sun Ra Arkestra, Globe Unity and Shibusa Shirazu. In 2015, the band appeared at Rock In Opposition (RIO), the biggest international festival of avant-garde rock, which made them known to core prog fans in Japan. Just when it seemed that the band would continue to expand its activities, leader Gregoire Gensee suddenly passed away in April 2016. However, the band continued to collaborate with the chanson singer Loïc Lantoine, which was in process of creating the album, and toured France for 50 dates between 2017 and 2018, releasing the collaborative album "Loïc Lantoine & The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra / Nous" was released in October 2017. The album is a double-disc set of studio and live recordings. To be honest, the French talking style vocals are a bit difficult for Japanese people, but VBETO's unpredictable sound is proof of their extraordinary talent. They were well received in France, and the concert tour continued until May 2019.
After the collaboration with Lantoine, being faced with the fact that they had lost their musical director, and they might have wondered and struggled whether they could survive as a big band. Then, suddenly, the threat of the COVID-19 strucked. In the midst of this extreme situation, where they were forbidden to go out and meet people, let alone to perform concert, they must have agreed that this was no time to dwell on their problems. In September 2020, after the pandemic had subsided a bit, the band united in a studio in Lyon to record their first new album in four years, "Dieu Poulet". Dedicated to the late Grégoire Gensse, the album is the latest version of the 18-member band's "Declaration of Experimental Freedom," with a new structure, new musicality, and new ideas. The cover, reminiscent of Noah's Ark with its collage of animal illustrations, is both surreal and humorous. The word "expérimentale" has a serious, stoic, and difficult image, but at the core of VBETO's expression is an oversized "humour". There is none of the dark dampness of a laboratory. Under the blue sky just like in the front cover, the sun is shining brightly, and a musical procession unfolds like le carnaval des animaux. There is no need to frown just because it is avant-garde. Even children can enjoy saying "Experiment is fun!". That's the spirit of "Toubifri".
THE VERY BIG EXPERIMENTAL TOUBIFRI ORCHESTRA / Dieu Poulet
M1 "Sexe!" has an epic funk beat which reminds me of the world of the film "The Lion King" and a massive chorus work that will uplift your mind into heaven with elation. In M2 "Les anciens humains", the polyrhythmic vocalization and the layers of the horn section create a dreamy floating feeling. In M3 "Le costume", the meticulously arranged chamber music turns into an improvisational battle between trombone and trumpet. The foul trick leads directly into the slapstick suite of M4 "Range ta chambre : blucafete". The dizzying change of the scene is like a musical without words. Saying "Ça va?", the interlude-like small piece M5 "Bleant" takes you into the second half of the album.
The solemn performance in M6 "Aigue : Bossa aigue" sounds like a requiem. M7 "Lune" is a minimalist music led by a gentle drone. The vibraphone and bassoon duet sings a fantasy of the moon world. M8 "Waiting for lips", which begins with a fading electronic sound, is a deep ballad in slow motion. The drumming in the deep reverb is fantastic. The album's title number, M9 "Dieu Poulet (God of Chickens)," is a cheerful carnival with calypso-like rhythms. The instrumentalists swing around like a French version of "Chōjū-giga" (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals, 12th century Japanese traditional art). The last song, M10 "Tell me," is a heavenly ballad reminiscent of Robert Wyatt. The overlapping chorus are just beautiful. After the song ends, there is silence for a while, but don't miss the energizing message at the end. This album is full of surprises and joy, like the creation of heaven and earth in 60 minutes. I would like to thank the chicken gods that I found them.
The Very Big Experimental Toubifri Orchestra - Sexe ! - 2019
I previously wrote about The Dorf from Essen, Germany as an avant-garde big band from Europe [See Disc Review]. The Dorf pursues the ultimate stoicism with no sound change for almost 50 minutes, while VBETO's performance is based on astonishing laughter. The presence of these two contrasting groups dialectically proves the arrival of an era in which we can loudly proclaim, "Three Cs(*) are the essence of musical expression!".
*Three Cs:
Closed spaces with poor ventilation
Crowded places with many people nearby
Close-contact setting such as close-range conversations
TO BE FREE
EXPERIMENTAL
ORCHESTRA
