Léon Phal Quintet / Emile Londonien
Stockfish, Nice, France 21 March 2025

Léon Phal Quintet: Léon Phal-Tenor Sax, Zacharie Kayk-Trumpet, Gauthier Toux- Fender Rhodes, Arthur Alard-Drums, Rémi Bouyssière-Double Bass

Emile Londonien: Nils Boyny-Keyboards, Théo Tritsch-Bass Guitar, Mattieu Drago-Drums

This was a double header with two of the leading lights of the new French Jazz Scene who have in common that they are known for using contemporary urban musics alongside jazz, albeit differently.

I was looking forward to seeing Emile Londonien twenty months on from when I had briefly seen and enjoyed the trio from Strasbourg at the Nice Jazz Festival 2023. I reported on them in my coverage of day two (https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/nice-jazz- festival-2023-part-one-18th-and-19th-july-2023).

It was my first sighting of the Geneva based French-Swiss saxophonist Léon Phal and his group whose credits include being a guest on Emile Londonien’s debut album ‘Legacy’. Also it was my first visit to Stockfish, a standing only black box venue with a sizeable stage and a good number of stage lights available that were synced with what both groups played without being intrusive. It is venue that is a good fit for two bands who draw on urban club/dance culture.

Stockfish is built into a student residential complex but there was a more intergenerational audience than you get at most jazz events in the U, K, ranging from 20 to the mid 70’s. On a night when there was a deluge in a city where it is said people do not go out when it rains, the venue was not absolutely full but there was still a good turnout of about 120 creating a good atmosphere.

LEON PHAL QUINTET

Since 2019 The Swiss -French tenor saxophonist who originates from Aÿ-en-Champagne in northern France has released four albums, the fourth being a “de-luxe” version of his third ‘Stress Killer’. He and all the members of his group have been together for sometime and this showed through in their performance.

Phal started with a bang. A loud electronic pulse that sounded like the call of a whale gave way to Phal immediately launching a blistering solo over a driving rhythm. Then he and trumpeter Zacharie Kayk sounded a fanfare which could be interpreted as an announcement, “we’ve arrived come and listen and see”.

Trumpeter Kayk followed up with the first of several excellent solos that showcased his full rich bell-like tone. He and Phal then came together again but this time playing counterpoint phrases before the number came to a sudden unexpected end.

After the high velocity twists and turns of the attention-grabbing opening number, the slower second number allowed everyone to catch their breath. The attractive melody was introduced by Phal’s sax floating above a repeated phrase played on the Rhodes. Then he and trumpeter Kayk alternated solos before another sudden end. This number highlight Phal’s skills as a composer, something that had been obscured a little by everything that had been going on in the first number.

The set consisted of originals all of which I think were written by Phal. Quite a few times he introduced a trio format into a number which gave Kayk and Gauthier Toux opportunities to shine, which they did, and which brought additional variety and textual nuance to the set.

The third number, which had an element of soul music, was a feature for Gauthier Toux whose extended solo clearly was enjoyed by an animated and smiling Phal.

The group seemed both very comfortable with each other and able to sustain an intensity even in the slower numbers. There was no mandatory drum solo for Arthur Alard, but his powerful broken beat rhythms were a constant presence. Double bassist Rémi Bouyssière who with Alard provided a very solid foundation, did not have a major solo either but by concentrating on him you could hear he was playing some interesting phrases.

Phal, Kayk and Bouyssière impressed as soloists but even more impressive was the relationship between Phal and Kayk. Their understanding seemed telepathic. This was perfectly illustrated by their precise co-ordination when playing a seven-note contrapuntal phrase that was the ticking clock at the start of a number that I think was called ‘Still Waiting’. This led into a hard bop solo from Phal that seemed to be expressing the frustration experienced. For me the number brought up the feelings I have often experienced when having to phone a call centre.

The diverse final sequence of tunes had trance music and dance beats, another excellent solo from Gauthier Toux on the Rhodes, Rémi Bouyssière’s double bass sounding as heavy as if it was a bass guitar, different combinations of instruments in trio format, and the whole group tipping the music almost into free jazz territory before their music took a more melodic and somewhat ethereal turn in the final number.

This was a very impressive performance which treated jazz and urban musics with equal respect. An aim of Phal was to get people dancing, he danced on stage himself and often urged the audience to move. While house, hip hop and electronica dance culture were influences I felt it was jazz and the group’s classic hard bop line up of acoustic instruments that predominated.

This was a band with excellent soloists and an ensemble togetherness, with Phal impressing as a composer of music that had plenty of variety and an accessibility that could potentially appeal to fans of other genres as well as jazz. Added to this is Phal’s out-going stage presence, he frequently chatted and joked with the audience. This band is the complete package, and on this showing Léon Phal and his colleagues deserve to have a great future, including I hope on festival stages and at jazz and other venues venues in the UK.

EMILE LONDONIEN

The name Emile Londonien is a tribute to both the new London jazz scene and to French saxophonist Émile Parisien. BBC broadcaster, DJ and producer Gilles Peterson, on whose BBC show the trio have been guests, has said of them : “I saw these guys recently live. They are a sort of celebration of the last 10-15 years of the UK jazz scene… “
(https://naiverecords.com/emile-londonien)

The Strasbourg group’s recording output includes titles which can be interpreted as marking how they saw themselves at a particular moment. In 2022 they released an E.P ‘Jazz Contenders’, while. the title of their 2023 debut album ‘Legacy’ can be interpreted as a reference to the legacy of what has inspired them. Tracks include ‘ Emile’ and ‘Omezis DNA’ which is a reference to the Omezis collective in Strasbourg where the trio met after training at the Strasbourg conservatoire.  Also in 2023 they released an E.P tribute to Thelonious Monk, ‘MNK’, who perhaps is another influence.

The title of their recent second album is’ Inwards’, and the consensus in the French music press is that this music is more introspective and reflective than the group’s previous output. It does continue the strong link with London as London based pianist Ashley Henry and singer Cherise are among the guests on the album.

Emile Londonien entered the stage like rock stars to loud electronic music and flashing lights. They started by setting up atmospheric washes punctuated by jagged bursts from the keyboards. Then an extremely strong pulse emerged, so strong that even standing at the back of the room I felt it in my chest.

After this somewhat disorientating and somewhat uncomfortable opening, the second number was in sharp contrast being a flowing melody led by the keyboard and which gently swung before slowly building in volume and energy and at the same time becoming gradually distorted and deliberately out of synch.

The next number initially revolved around the contrast of slow bass guitar and fast drums. The drumming became even more intense, Mattieu Drago grimacing with the effort before Nils Boyny on keyboard took over the lead with a sinuous solo.

The fourth number belonged almost entirely to bass guitarist Théo Tritsch. He was unaccompanied until very near the end when drums and keys joined to add some light textural washes. It was a slow meditative tune that had a touch of Spain, with Tritsch picking out single notes with great precision. During it I became aware of background chatter, which was an indication of how quietly it was played.,

Next up was an atmospheric melody played on the keys and embellished by the other two trio members. This was displaced by a drum solo with Mattieu Drago striking his kit powerfully. His solo was this number’s the main element with eventually the guitar and keys joining to round it off.

The final part of the set was intense and high energy and strongly influenced by club culture with the lights adding to the club vibe. There proved to be one more number with Emile Londonien inviting Leon Phal on stage to join them in playing the jazzy melodic title track from their first album ‘Legacy’, which brought both parts of the night together nicely.

It felt that this set from Emile Londonien had a more composed feel than when I had seen them at the Nice Jazz festival of 2023. They had moved on from then. The club culture element of the new London Jazz scene came across strongly but jazz remained at the heart of their music especially in what keyboardist Nils Boyny plays. He carries off the heavy responsibility of being the frontman for the trio with style and aplomb.

I have the impression this is a group who do move on and it will be fascinating to see where they have got to in another two years. With it having just been announced that they are going to be the opening act at of the 64th edition of Jazz A Juan they may be on the cusp of wider recognition. The full programme is available via this link
https://jazzajuan.com/en/programme-jazz-a-juan-2025/

It is a pity that other than Léon Phal playing one date at Ronnie Scott’s, UK jazz fans and other music fans have not had the opportunity to see these fine exciting groups play live which is rather ironic given Emile Londonien’s admiration for the London scene. Members of both groups gave me the same explanation: English promoters do not pay much!

What continues to amaze me coming from the UK is that the city authorities in Nice still have a significant budget for culture and use it to bring jazz groups from elsewhere to play in the city. So thank you Nice Ville under whose aegis the concert happened. Thank you as well to Stockfish staff and to the groups’ management who organised a reviewer’s ticket for me at very short notice.

https://leonphal.com/

https://www.facebook.com/EmileLondonien/?locale=fr_FR

COLIN MAY

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