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Manu Katche: Manu Katche

By John Kelman
October 29, 2012
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Since joining ECM for Neighbourhood (2005), Manu Katch�� has carved out a very specific niche for himself at a label whose purview continues to broaden—with this French-Ivorian drummer, perhaps surprisingly so. Contemporary? Yes, Katch�� has fashioned a nearly four-decade career as a superb groove-meister, whether in the rock world with artists Sting or

Peter Gabriel

vocals
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Gabriel, or with more decidedly jazz-centric artists like saxophonist

Jan Garbarek

saxophone
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Jan Garbarek, on Dresden (ECM, 2009), or keyboardist

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock, on his (admittedly more pop-oriented) The Imagine Project (Herbie Hancock Music, 2010). But with his now four ECM recordings defined by accessible grooves and singable melodies, they're still absolutely players' recordings, and certainly nowhere near "smooth jazz" sphere to which some folks attribute them.

Manu Katch�� follows Third Round (2010), but returns to the slightly longer song lengths of Playground (2007), allowing his quartet, which brings back Third Round's

Tore Brunborg

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Tore Brunborg, more maneuvering room. The saxophonist first appeared on the international stage with ECM and Masqualero, the now-legendary Norwegian quintet, led by bassist

Arild Andersen

bass, acoustic
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Arild Andersen and drummer

Jon Christensen

drums
1943 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Christensen, that also included a young

Nils Petter Molvaer

trumpet
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Nils Petter Molvaer, here making his recording debut with Katch��. The trumpeter has garnered significant attention, beginning with the paradigm shift of his electro-centric, pan-cultural 1997 ECM debut, Khmer, through to the present, his current trio continuing to bust down borders of orthodoxy, style and culture on Baboon Moon (Sula, 2011).

Manu Katch�� represents, then, a reunion of sorts for Molv?r and the equally busy Brunborg—whose star has been on its own ascendancy for recent ECM work with pianists

Ketil Bjornstad

" data-original-title="" title="">Ketil Bjornstad (2010's Remembrance) and

Tord Gustavsen

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Tord Gustavsen (2012's The Well). Katch�� rounds out his bass-less quartet with British pianist/organist

Jimmy Watson

b.1922

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Watson, for a program that ranges from the post-bop swing of "Short Ride" and soulful, tom-driven vamp of "Bliss" to the modal funk of "Beats & Bounce," and "Loving You," a ballad at its core but possessing, with Watson's intervallic-leaping Hammond, considerably more forward motion.

Molv?r expands Katch��'s soundstage, for the first time, with his technology- driven approach; harmonized, with copious reverb and other effects, the trumpeter's solo on the propulsive "Walking By Your Side" is a sonic tour de force, though he adopts a more burnished, acoustic tone in the front line melodies with Brunborg on tracks like "Short Ride" and "Loose," but with an immediately recognizable embouchure.

As ever, Brunborg solos with effortless aplomb, weaving melodic yet change- aware lines through Katch��'s writing, while Watson demonstrates similarly unfettered imagination on piano, whether it's on the soft ballad, "Loving You" or "Beats & Bounce," where he channels his inner Herbie Hancock.

Katch�� rarely solos, though when he does near the end of "Short Ride," it's quickly clear that he's got plenty of jazz chops to spare. Katch�� made the right decision to leave more space on Manu Katch��, because it would be an absolute mistake to constrain a quartet this good to just three or four minutes. Still, not a note is wasted with what may be his best group yet. Manu Katch�� may be ECM's most vital, booty-shaking record ever—and live, this group must be positively nuclear.

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Track Listing

Running After Years; Bliss; Loving You; Walking By Your Side; Imprint; Short Ride; Beats & Bounce; Slowing the Tides; Loose; Dusk on Carnon.

Personnel

Manu Katche

drums

Jim Watson: piano (, Hammond B3 organ; Nils Petter Molv?r: trumpet, loops; Tore Brunborg: tenor and soprano saxophones; Manu Katch��: drums, piano solo (10).

Album information

Title: Manu Katche | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: ECM Records

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