French trumpeter Erik Truffaz began to gain U.S.
recognition via two strong Blue Note discs, The Mask and Revisité.
His third stateside release, Mantis, finds him again blending jazz with cutting-edge rhythms associated with drum'n'bass and hip-hop.
But this time the lineup has changed, most notably with Manu Codjia's spiky, spacy electric guitar replacing Patrick Muller's Fender Rhodes piano.
Double-bassist Michel Benita and drummer Philippe Garcia, also new faces, largely stick to the tripped-out rhythmic language typical of Truffaz's earlier efforts.
In addition to the club music element, Truffaz incorporates Arabic influences on "Nina Valeria" and "Magrouni," the former a stark duet with oud player Anouar Brahem and the latter a showstopping feature for Tunisian vocalist Mounir Troudi.
In another departure, Codjia switches to acoustic guitar for an especially lyrical duo with the leader called "Yasmina." Here, as well as on the melancholy 7/4 closer "Tahun Bahu," Truffaz seems to be going for a more organic sound, perhaps in part to shake off tiresome comparisons with electric Miles Davis.
(Don't miss the hidden bonus track, a riotous instrumental version of "Magrouni.").
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Point | Erik Truffaz | Play | 05:35 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 2 | La Mémoire du SilenceErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 07:49 | 17 MB | 43 MB |
| 3 | SaisirErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 06:32 | 14 MB | 41 MB |
| 4 | No FearErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 02:14 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 5 | Nina ValeriaErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | Parlophone | Erik Truffaz | Play | 03:57 | 9 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | MagrouniMounir Troudi, Erik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | MantisErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 07:45 | 17 MB | 44 MB |
| 9 | YasminaErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | Mare MossoErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 11 | Tahun BahuErik Truffaz | Erik Truffaz | Play | 10:28 | 23 MB | 63 MB |
| 59 mins | 137 MB | |||||
| 59 mins | 343 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Habib Achour | Executive Producer |
| 2 | Joe Bastard | Liner Notes |
| 3 | Michel Benita | Bass |
| 4 | Anouar Brahem | Guest Artist, Oud |
| 5 | Manu Codjia | Guitar |
| 6 | Benoît Corboz | Engineer, Mastering |
| 7 | Philippe Garcia | Drums, Megaphone |
| 8 | Mephisto | Photography |
| 9 | Nicolas Pflug | Producer |
| 10 | Mounir Troudi | Composer, Vocals |
| 11 | Erik Truffaz | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer, Trumpet |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |