Benjamin Duboc

Considering the work done by each one of the musicians forming the band Afterfall, this is the most improbable of all projects. The fact is that it works, and we must say it works beautifully. It could have been an ad-hoc group, reunited at the end of the summer of 2008 for a couple of gigs in Portugal.

If you identify alto saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet and drummer Edward Pérraud with the minimal and abstract free improvisation of the French band Hubbub, another project with their participation, you’ll be astonished with the hard driving, muscular music played by The Fish.

I am not sure whether the French or English translation do credit to Japanese haiku master Bashō's original verse, yet the music on this fantastic album by the French trio Daunik Lazro on baritone saxophone, Benjamin Duboc on bass and Didier Lasserre on snare drums and cymbals manage to evocate the short poem's wonderful power.