COMPTINES

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Since their first gig as a duo in the early 1980's, the musical complicity between Steve Houben and Charles Loos has never wavered. 35 years after recording the ''Comptines'' album , the jazz classics collection of Igloo is reissuing it, completed by new recorded versions. On the nine miniatures, the two accomplices support each other and trade licks in a relaxed atmosphere. Loos was already playing with his distinctive, slightly precious, tone. With subtlety, he hemmed the waves of pure, precise sax improvisations, in turns alto, soprano and tenor. Their music fully fit into the new chamber jazz style that had appeared in the previous decade via ECM and to which many European jazzmen aspired. Emblematic of this approach, ''Valse de Nuit'' creates a dreamy, starlit sensation. Time stands still, with the subconscience constantly gliding from wellbeing burdened with funny or intriguing titles such as ''Ca C'est Mechant'', the music remains graceful, elegant, nostalgic, modest and aware of its deep classical roots, wrapped in a veil that is somewhere between solemn and dreamy, which is also that of the release as a whole. This was the first step of a tandem that would subsequently have a rich career, playing on several occasions as a duo or in other configurations, including trios with flautist Ali Ryerson and singer Maurane, and the Thais String Quartet. Show more