Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark Feldman Quartet: To Fly To Steal

Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark Feldman Quartet: To Fly To Steal

By Glenn Astarita
March 23, 2010
View read count

Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark Feldman Quartet: To Fly To Steal

Violinist

Mark Feldman

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Feldman and his wife, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier eloquently morph restraint, depth and a contemporary classical touch into the progressive-jazz idiom on this 2010 release. Respectively, the musicians are ceaselessly engaged within the new music style of jazz and improvisation, having recorded for several record labels, spanning several years. No doubt, the duo's venerable artistic propensities unravel in resplendent fashion on To Fly To Steal.

The quartet manifests a self-identity during these emotively imbued works, designed with asymmetrical pulses, and brisk unison lines to contrast improvisation-based call and response frameworks. It's an undulating program, kindled by Feldman's climactically executed staccato phrasings and synergistic interplay with Courvoisier. Coupled with emphatic tension-and-release statements, the band abides by a democratic outlook.

Drummer extraordinaire

Gerry Hemingway

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Hemingway is an accelerator via his loose groove, polyrhythmic rolls, snare hits and cymbal swashes while attaining a prolific partnership with up and coming bassist, Thomas Morgan. During these buoyant and multidirectional pieces, the quartet seamlessly combines austere structure and sprawling improv segments. They flourish as a unit capable of untangling an abundance of mood-evoking notions amid variable levels of intensity.

Feldman and Courvoisier profess their superior techniques with minimalistic and sometimes, playful exchanges. And they venture into ethereal vistas on "Fire, Fist And Bestial Wall," where Courvoisier gently plucks the piano strings to elicit a rhythmic hue, complementing Feldman's sonorous passages. Here and elsewhere, the band delves into abstract impressionism while injecting chamber influences within angular noise-shaping jaunts. In a sense, they seem to be realigning the cosmos by generating the requisite amalgamations of power, eloquence and boundless ingenuity.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Messiaenesque; Whispering Glades; The Good Life; Five Senses Of Keen; Fire, Fist And Bestial Wall; Coastlines; To Fly To Steal.

Personnel

Sylvie Courvoisier

piano

Sylvie Courvoisier: piano; Mark Feldman: violin; Thomas Morgan: bass; Gerry Hemingway: drums.

Album information

Title: To Fly To Steal | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Intakt Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Pastorale
< Previous

Take Five With Dan Dean
Next >

Sylvie Courvoisier Concerts

Oct 17 Fri

Vilnius Jazz 2025: Wadada Leo Smith - Sylvie Courvoisier...

Vilnius Old Theatre
Vilnius, Lithuania

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.