Robin Denselow 

Christophe Chassol: Indiamore review – Indian-influenced jazz-funk workout

The French pianist's uneven set, inspired by a trip to India, is often easier to admire than enjoy, writes Robin Denselow
  
  

Christophe Chassol
Christophe Chassol: a fine pianist with the ability to impress and frustrate. Photograph: Flavien Prioreau Photograph: Flavien Prioreau /PR

Much admired by Gilles Peterson, who included him in an event he programmed for this year's Meltdown, Christophe Chassol is a French pianist who has the ability to both impress and frustrate. For his latest project he travelled to India, where he filmed street scenes and singers, and used the sounds he collected as the starting point for his own compositions. The result is a set that is often easier to admire than enjoy. He cleverly improvises over looped speech passages, and uses the noise of Calcutta traffic as the basis for a gently stomping Indian-influenced jazz-funk workout, but the technique sounds overused by the end of the recording. Chassol is far better accompanying singer Prerana Srivastava, or demonstrating his fine piano work on the elegant, drifting opening to Dosidomifa or the stirring finale to Odissi.

 

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