Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg on Suite by Marco Fusi and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

A new release from the Bead Records label featuring Marco Fusi (violin and viola d’amore) and Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay (bass guitar and electronics). Subtitled A Baroque Encounter – A First Dance, it offers sophisticated electroacoustic/instrumental music. The artists state: "Acoustic resonance unfolds across matter and space. Yet other forms of resonance are stirred by encounter and memories. The sounds of this album are shaped through free improvisation—dancing around one another’s gestures, swaying through shifting sonic and emotional situations. But what is improvisation, if not the magical resonances of what each performer already knows and embodies—even more so when the two meet in sound for the first time." I admit I am not familiar with the instrumental trajectory of this electroacoustic music. Yet I listen with interest and delight, as the sonorities, textures, dynamics, and sonic details—creaks, vibrations, crackles—are clearly of the highest caliber. They are worthy of inclusion in Phil Wachsmann’s illustrious Bead label. Six tracks, numbered I through VI, distill sonic explorations and radical instrumental activity, all captured in a high-quality recording mastered by Sam Pluta, an electronics wizard. The handling of the bass guitar within this radical, experimental improvisational context is particularly exemplary. It reminds me of a demonstration John Greaves gave some fifty years ago—back in the Henry Cow era—using his bass guitar, three pedals, and a ping-pong ball backstage. It was surprising. And here, too, I find myself surprised. The same applies to the enigmatic Marco Fusi, who stretches out the friction sounds of his violin while the prepared electric bass lights up with crystalline percussive strikes. One must closely follow the unfolding of the album’s six tracks to fully grasp the scope of their music, which evolves by transforming its sonic character and discoveries as the listening experience progresses. One discovers affinities with the worlds of Wachsmann and Bailey, as well as other artists working with amplified sound—using electronic systems or deliberately playing with the unpredictable nature of amplification. Curious, ghostly atmospheres—rustling, rumbling, or vibrating—weave through time, creating a distinctive and fascinating musical universe where each track possesses its own sonic identity and expresses a specific initial intent. It is a fascinating listen if you are well-versed in, or receptive to, this spirit of experimentation and creation. Suite is a fine, original achievement! I should also add that Pierre Alexandre Tremblay has recorded Eyre with his duo light.box alongside trumpeter Alex Bonney and saxophonist Tom Challenger (Bead 51); a quartet album with the trio Spaces Unfolding (Neil Metcalfe, Phil Wachsmann, and Emil Karlsen – Bead 50); and Undanced Dance with the light.box duo plus Emil Karlsen (Bead 44). Hats off to Emil Karlsen for continuing the Bead Records label’s journey with such creativity (it was founded in 1974)!