Guitarist Barthelemy has spent much of his career working with orchestras, both jazz and classical, and on this album he teams up again with the 13-piece Orchestre National De Jazz. Stylistically various, the programme here ranges from wild free-form to tightly arranged passages, sometimes in pastiche mood. Whether this adds up to a convincing whole is problematic. At its best, this is exciting, exploratory Euro-jazz; at its worst, it seems somewhat aimless.
Guitarist Barthelemy has spent much of his career working with orchestras, both jazz and classical, and on this album he teams up again with the 13-piece Orchestre National De Jazz. Stylistically various, the programme here ranges from wild free-form to tightly arranged passages, sometimes in pastiche mood. Whether this adds up to a convincing whole is problematic. At its best, this is exciting, exploratory Euro-jazz; at its worst, it seems somewhat aimless.
