Christophe and Tony Raymond are twin brothers (born 1976) from Northern France. They come from a musical family and initially studied classical music before falling in love with jazz. Christophe (violin) chose Didier Lockwood as his role model whilst pianist Tony idolised Keith Jarrett.

Their début for the French Lontano label (distributed by Warner’s WCJ imprint) comprises of nine original pieces composed by the twins. Electric bassist Hadrien Feraud and drummer Damien Schmitt combine with the brothers to form a core quartet and there are also guest appearances from Didier Lockwood himself plus Italian musicians Rosario Giuliani ( alto saxophone) and Flavio Boltro (trumpet).

The Raymonds approach embraces elements of jazz, fusion and classical music. The opening “Como Paradis”  features Christophe’s wordless vocalising, singing along with the melody line he plays on his violin. At times it recalls the soaring vocal melodies to be heard on some of Pat Metheny’s group recordings. Elsewhere Tony displays his lyrical touch at the piano and there is an almost fusion style solo from Feraud at the bass. 

The more forceful and pacey “Up Sex” features Christophe’s violin trading fiery solos with guest saxophonist Giuliani. This is invigorating and enjoyable stuff but sadly all too brief.

The beautiful ballad"Lettre A Bernard” is essentially Tony’s baby and begins with a lengthy passage for gently lyrical, classically informed piano. The reflective mood remains even after the rest of the band join in giving the music an epic, wide-screen quality. 

The lively “Preliminaires”  features a guest slot from Lockwood with the older violinist handling the bulk of the soloing. Like the earlier “Up Sex” it’s energising stuff.

The gently reflective pieces “La Reine Noire” and “Le Chef” are duets featuring the twins only. Both reveal the brothers’ classical roots and each has a sonata like structure. The musical empathy between the twins is readily apparent and as the album liner notes point out both pieces have a real cinematic quality. 

The two duets are punctuated by the slyly twisting “89.9” featuring guest trumpeter Flavio Boltro. Boltro’s bright and effervescent playing is complemented by Tony Raymond’s exuberant Jarrett style soloing. Again it’s an example of a guest musician giving the album a real boost. 
“Loulou” again features Christophe’s voice on another breezy fusion style workout. His violin is also the dominant instrument here with a lively and vivacious solo. There is also a feature for Schmitt at the drums, his inventive and colourful playing well supported by the rest of the group.
The drummer is also prominent on the closing “4 Fauves Dans La Reine”, a dense, knotty piece that stretches the whole quartet. 

Christophe and Tony Raymond are clearly highly talented players with a good deal of potential and there is much to enjoy on this album. However Christophe’s singing can become irksome after a while and there are moments when the album veers towards the bland. Also I’d like to have heard more acoustic bass rather than Feraud’s sometimes overly busy electric. Finally at less than forty minutes the album is noticeably short by modern day standards. Nevertheless despite these criticisms it will be interesting to see what the Raymond twins do next.

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