On the borders of spiritual jazz, post-rock and primitive blues chords, Under The Reefs Orchestra amplifies the world in its own way.
A few days before unveiling the eight tracks of the second album ofUnder The Reefs Orchestra under the disco ball of the Botanique, the brains of operations bask in the sun. Cap screwed on the head, cup of coffee in hand, Clement Nourry has ants in his legs. “I can’t wait to play ‘Sakurajima’ in concert”, confides the guitarist. Expected September 23, the disc in question celebrates the fusion of genres without a word. Purely instrumental, the exercise nevertheless says a lot about the ambitions of the trio. Adventurous and without complex, Under The Reefs Orchestra intends to draw lines of union between blues, free jazz, alternative rock and great film scores.
To understand the genesis of this supersonic enterprise, it is advisable to board the TGV. Direction Lille Flandres. This is where the guitarist and singer Clement Nourry grew up. A dreamy but Cartesian musician, the boy began studying mathematics at university. “But the place did not suit me. Me, I dreamed of seeing the world, of meeting people. For that, music was much better suited than math.»
Adventurous and uninhibited, Under The Reefs Orchestra intends to draw links between blues, free jazz, alternative rock and great film scores.
A few days after the year 2000 bug, Clément Nourry thus crossed the border by train to take the entrance exam for the Brussels Conservatory. “This city transformed me,” he says. “When I left France, I was looking to confront myself with other cultures, with other ways of thinking and doing things. For this, Brussels ticks all the boxes.” Diploma in hand, the artist multiplies food jobs. During the day, he goes to give guitar lessons at therock workshop de Huy and, at nightfall, serves a small musical menu in restaurants in the capital. “And then, every Sunday, I found other musicians in a back room near Ixelles. The place was run by students: they sold cheap beer and we had free time to play free jazzArt Ensemble of Chicago style.”
©© Sarah Bastin
Threesome
On the fringes of jazz, the guitarist nurtures a musical culture directly imported from the 1990s. A fan of PJ Harvey, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden, he tried his hand at rock with the Brussels group Joy as a Toy. Open to all possibilities, he then shares the stage with the collective Yokai, but also with the Belgian singer Nicholas Michaux which, soon, ensures the production of a solo disc imagined by Clément Nourry.
“When I left France, I was looking to confront myself with other cultures, other ways of thinking and doing things. For that, Brussels ticks all the boxes.”
Released in the spring of 2016, this instrumental album is fundamental. baptized “Under The Reefs”, the object honors the spirit of the great adventurers of the six strings and puts all its riches on the triple John (Lee Hooker – Fahey – Frusciante). Called to perform on the poster of Botanical Nights, Clément Nourry seeks to boost his compositions. He then surrounds himself with a saxophone and a drum set. “The formula sounded so good that we decided to form a real group”. This is the starting point of Under The Reefs Orchestra. By way of introduction, the formation delivers a first album with a fine beak. Of the kind to peck only good grain: Ennio Morricone, Marc Ribot, Ry Cooder or Pharoah Sanders are all names that come to mind when listening to the project.
Back in the news with a second try, Under The Reefs Orchestra still digs the same furrow, but clarifies its intentions. With “Sakurajima”, the band puts sounds on their emotions. Recovered after long months of confinement, saxophonist Marti Melia, drummer Jakob Warmenbol and Clément Nourry vent all their frustrations via a liberating and frontal disc as desired.
“Sakurajima” – Under the Reefs Orchestra
Stir sky and crater
The second essay by the Brussels trio is therefore entitled “sakurajima“. “This is a reference to a Japanese volcano: one of the most active in the world”, says Clément Nourry. “It is currently erupting and the news coming from the region is not really reassuring… A few years ago, I went there. There, people live with the threat of death right next to their homes. From one day to the next, everything could change. In essence, ‘Sakurajima’ therefore reminds us of the place occupied by nature. If the elements are unleashed, we are very little…»
“In essence, ‘Sakurajima’ therefore reminds us of the place occupied by nature. If the elements are unleashed, we are very little…”
Made by the collagist David Delruellethe cover of the new album suggests a world in the throes of chaos: a bicycle in hand, a young boy walks through a burning city. The image challenges. Is this war? A truce? The beginning of the end? “Ambivalence is a bit of our trademark”, laughs Clément Nourry. “For us, everything is about contrasts. Some people see us as a jazz bandothers like A rock group. The truth lies somewhere in between. It’s the same with this image: it’s open to interpretation.”
Between criticism of a world on the edge of the abyss and prospects charged with hope (in humanity), the cover of “Sakurajima” offers food for thought. “Yet we never seek to produce messages. This is all the more true as our music is instrumental. On the other hand, we create a sound framework in which people can come and graft their aspirations and their anxieties.A real outlet, effort frees the body and soothes the mind. Salutary.