| Jazz moderne |
Get The Blessing is an English group originating from the city of Bristol, offering a form of urban jazz influenced by both rock and classical music. Although they have made waves on international stages, this high-quality album is aimed at a discerning audience. The album begins with a rather radical track, “Oscillation Ochre,” in the form of repetitive music, later giving way to sumptuous melodies set against a backdrop of post-industrial atmospheres. Undoubtedly, there may be inspirations from the city of Bristol’s port, which, though now dedicated to tourism, was long devoted to trade and industry. The current mayor is Martin Reeves, a Labour Party member elected until 2024, and the cultural background of the group’s members is extremely diverse.
Here’s what the band Get The Blessing says about their album: “Pallett” (the title is, of course, the usual wordplay) was born from improvisations between Jake, Pete, and Jim during lockdowns, which were then sent in a big paper bag to Clive, who added his drums at his home in Oxfordshire. Our very good friend Adrian Utley added some finishing touches, and the great Tim Allen mixed the results. We hope you enjoy its organic blend of long-form hypnotic minimalism, playful rhythms, and unusual textures. If, in some way, it’s a more mature album, you’ll be glad to hear that we still play “like children,” as one of our favorite critics said.
The musicians: Jim Barr, Clive Deamer, Pete Judge, Jake McMurchie, all absolutely prodigious, unwavering in their arrangements and instrumentation. While humor is present in the titles of this album, its content is anything but light, thoughtfully designed, constructed down to the CD cover that you can color as you like with the colored pencils provided with the CD purchase. This album should be seen more as a work of contemporary art than a musical album; it’s music to experience. It’s not surprising that Pallett wants every CD buyer-listener to become creative in turn. It’s not quite like the “Music of Chance” by Paul Auster or Nashe, the divorced American firefighter who abandons his job and home the day he inherits a small fortune from his unknown father… But perhaps a bit, as when we listen to “Get The Blessing,” we are not just listeners but also spectators of a post-industrial musical architecture that tells its story.
Of course, you’ll hear this album on Bayou Blue Radio, an album that narrowly missed being in our essential list. The editors of Bayou Blue Radio and Paris-Move, however, find this album a tad too elitist, but they still consider it their “Favorite.”
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, October 26th 2023
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