Francois Carrier Ensemble featuring Mat Maneri /Tomasz Stańko / Gary Peacock / Michel Lambert: Openness

Openness waited nearly two decades on a shelf (ok, probably on a hard drive) before being released for our listening pleasure. Recorded on May 5 & 6, 2006 at the Théâtre La Chapelle in Montréal, Canada, these three precious discs document a meeting between Canadian saxophonist François Carrier and Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. It is the Polish label Fundacja Sluchaj to thank for this release and the prior disc Unwalled (2022), with Carrier being joined by Alexander von Schlippenbach, John Edwards, and Michel Lambert.

The saxophonist was enamored by the Tomasz Stańko Quartet's Matka Joanna (ECM, 2005) and invited the trumpeter to travel and perform along with Gary Peacock, Mat Maneri, and Michel Lambert. Carrier had previously recorded Travelling Lights (Justin Time, 2004) with Peacock and in 2005 Happening (Leo Records, 2006) with Maneri. Both discs included Lambert on the drums, as he was/is the cornerstone to most of the saxophonist's performances since the late 1990s.

These performances, like nearly all of Carrier's work, are entirely improvised. Although unscripted, nothing in the hands of these master musicians comes off as hasty or reckless. Stańko's sound combines the fragility of Miles Davis' late 1950s/early 60's trumpet with free improvisation. Carrier, Peacock, and Maneri effortlessly follow suit. The music is never rushed. Most tracks clock in at 20-plus minutes, leaving plenty of space for each musician to develop ideas. Peacock's experience early in his career with Albert Ayler and later Keith Jarrett is proof enough that he can roar and whisper. The same can be said for Lambert and Maneri. However, it is the alliance between Carrier's alto and soprano saxophones and Stanko's trumpet that makes this outing special. The two empathic musicians weave an empathic and lyrical expression as if they have been performing together for decades and not just these two days in May 2006

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