DESCRIPTION:
Pierre Favre Ensemble: Serpent
composed by Pierre Favre

Pierre Favre: Drums, percussion
Hélène Breschand: Harp
Chris Biscoe: Saxes, alto clarinette
Michel Godard: Tuba, serpent
Baenz Oester: Double bass
Philipp Schaufelberger: Guitar
Wolfgang Zwiauer: Bass guitar

Back with ECM after a decade, percussionist Pierre Favre has delivered one of his most captivating albums. It is hardly surprising that the musician who produced such unexpected colours and textures as a solo act and from a percussion quartet (the Singing Drums of the 1980s) should find so many possibilities in the almost wilfully unconventional instrumentation employed for this edition of the Ensemble.
While there is a strong rhythmic backbone to these seven Favre compositions, with bass, drums, harp and guitar often acting together as a unit to carry the pulse, it is the agreeable melodies and the ingenious, fresh and attractive voicings that distinguish the session. From the opening "Mort d'Eurydice", where the bass's heartbeat wells up from a shimmering cymbal and harp introduction, via the delicate guitar/harp interaction on "Albatros" and the soprano workout on "Reflet sud" to the final Tudor-tinged "Decors", this is a gratifying listen.
Barry Witherden -- BBC Music Magazine -- February 2007

For more information see: www.pierrefavre.ch