Pilc Moutin Hoenig pick up right where they left off (and make it up as they go along) on their comeback album You Are The Song — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
When the acclaimed trio of Jean-Michel Pilc, François Moutin and Ari Hoenig reunited for the first time in 12 years, there was no question that the magic they distilled all those years ago was just waiting to be plucked from the air the moment they reconvened. The result is their stellar album You Are The Song, out now on Justin Time Records.
“Instead of talking about music, we let music talk through us,” says Pilc. “Rather than playing music, we let music play us. In lieu of playing a song, we become the song and invite all of YOU to do so.”
Even though Pilc and Moutin knew each other in France in the ’80s when they attended university together, they strengthened their musical relationship in 1995, when they both moved to New York and linked up with Hoenig. Their debut in 2000 was followed by three more records before they went their separate ways in 2011.
Reuniting at the behest of Justin Time, it was like no time had passed at all. “What we do is pure improvisation,” says Pilc. “There is no resistance in the music when the three of us are together.”
They assembled in a Brooklyn studio in June 2022 and played for three hours, gathering enough material for several albums. You Are The Song is the first. It includes spontaneous compositions as well as reharmonized takes on standards such as John Coltrane’s Impressions and Thelonious Monk’s Straight No Chaser — even the theme from the 1951 Disney version of Alice in Wonderland.
But it’s not free jazz as some listeners might assume from the trio’s three-decade career. It has an emotive heart, with all three musicians serving as leaders. It follows melodic forms, fuels with a unique rhythmic vitality, powers into playground antics and ventures into uncharted sonic territory. “We’re in a state of concentration,” says Moutin. “We don’t want a rational mindset to get in the way. We are constantly on that crest between control and letting go. It’s a mystery, but we like to not solve the mystery. It’s more important to carry the emotion.”
Sample You Are The Song below, and find out more at Jean-Michel Pilc‘s website, François Moutin’s website and Ari Hoenig‘s website.
