creation : 9.11.12, Le Maillon (Wacken), Strasbourg (France)
musicians : 6 percussionists
duration : 15′
Jazz pianist, Andy Emler likes nothing more than original collaborations: during the residence of his MegaOctet at the Abbaye de Royaumont, he set up polycultural projects with Indian, Malian, Amazigh musicians… A concert with the Percussions de Strasbourg could not but pique his inspiration: the result is more than an hour and a half of music where MegaOctet and Percussions de Strasbourg pass the quid. On the occasion of the ensemble’s fiftieth anniversary, Emler extended the original programme by one number: Obsisens only requires the six percussionists and can be played separately.
Written for keyboards ( three marimbas , xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel ) , the piece presents the Percussions de Strasbourg as a true Big Band , far from the contemporary world , but no less demanding musically and rhythmically . The opportunity for the musicians to mix groove of the modern jazz and contemporary music as well as improvisation – they improvise random agreements series on tanks notes, source of many surprises in the moment. For his part, Andy Emler has allowed some experiences – hybrids of jazz rhythmic one hand and on the other , of a writing made of enriched textures, bitonality , series , although rare in jazz.