Description
This album is available for pre-order on our bandcamp.
In April 2020, Pierre Borel began to work intensively on a solo form, first on the saxophone, then incorporating various percussion elements into my playing. One thing led to another and the idea of an experimental “one-man-band” became more and more attractive. He began to explore
the infinite possibilities and limitations of playing saxophone and drums simultaneously. Right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot and mouth, five parts of the body are now involved. The coordination difficulties inherent in drumming are made even more complex with the saxophone. The basic rules are :
Mouth on the saxophone: four limbs are available for drumming.
Mouth and left hand on the saxophone: the right hand and both feet remain for drumming.
Mouth, left hand and right hand on the saxophone : both feet remain for the drums.
This set up is a small orchestra in itself, a « one-band » that allows to work with multiple layers of sound. Add or subtract elements. Use the saxophone as a percussive instrument. Use the drums as a reverberant surface. Play with the friction of frequencies. Hide sounds. Emphasizing impacts. Grooving underneath. Facing dead ends. Synchronisation and dissociation. Trying to blur the listener’s expectations : Is it saxophone and drums or a transmutation of both ? Is he playing with, for or against himself ? Is it a solo or a duo ? These questions and thoughts run through the four tracks of this album, in different forms and never completely
resolved. Katapult begins with a intermission : “Kurze Pause Zum Rauchen”, an introduction to left hand, right hand, right foot and mouth. While the left foot takes a break. The two
following takes, “Sol Si Ré Tchak Boom” and “Ré Si Sol Boom Tchak”, are the core of the album. Two different explorations of similar territory, two long stretches of adventurous improvisation. The titles refer to Solsirépifpan, one of the first known French “homme-orchestre” at the beginning of the 19th century. For J.C. is dedicated to the multi-dimensional Chicago drummer Jerome Cooper.
Everything you hear on Katapult is played live.
