Vincent Peirani Taking The Accordion To New Levels
Vincent Peirani‘s new album “Living Being”, to be released this Friday, starts with a mystique accordion and Fender Rhodes motif segueing into the hymn-like “Suite En V” and featuring an intense soprano saxophone by new band member Emile Parisien. Five artists from different musical perspectives have found each other, or rather Vincent has found them, for his latest endeavor.
There is Tony Paeleman on Fender Rhodes, Julien HernĂ©, the bassist who has played with the accordionist in a Gypsy band, and drummer Yoann Serra who is also no stranger to Peirani. All of the material here are originals except two songs: one by Jeff Buckley (“Dream Brother”) which has some rock elements to it and one piece by Michel Portal (“Mutinerie”) which comes across as an experimental Weather Report-like dance. And that’s what binds this music together I think: whatever Peirani does with his instrument, it always feels like a dance. The beautiful, almost classical, in parts chamber-like piece “On The Heights” is probably the best example for this totally new accordion sound.
It’s amazing what the accordion can sound like. Just one listen to the frantic “Some Monk” shows you a new definition of the instrument which is anything but an accompaniment for some melancholic French chanson. The combination with the Rhodes is what makes this music especially attractive and also the fact that this is no genre-specific stuff, but rather an agglomeration of Jazz, Classical, Pop, Rock, and Blues held together by a dancing accordion. “Living Being” ends on a very sweet note with the minimalist “Miniature” showcasing the overall talent of this great musician from Nice who is on tour:
Catch him in Boulogne on February 3rd, in Berlin for an accordion night at the Philharmonic on February 13th, or at the Jazz Vitoria Gasteiz Festival in Spain on July 16th for example.