…wn West African group in Paris (Waraba, 2004, produced by Delbecq). Avenel and the Paris-based Congolese drummer Emile Biayenda, who Benoit first performed and recorded with on a tour to Central Africa in 1994, set up wonderfully unpredictable grooves, and continuously co-create the music with total involvement. The three of them mesh not just rhyth…

…of new music beyond category. Highly acclaimed in Europe, Benoit Delbecq leads or co-leads a number of bands (The Recyclers, Karket, Ambitronix, PianoBook) and has releases on Naive, Plush, Deux Z and other labels. He has three previous releases on Songlines: two duos with Vancouver clarinetist François Houle and one leading the Delbecq 5.   “Nu-Tur…

…galitarian and organic conception of orchestral dynamics, Delbecq, without sacrificing any part of his poetics, wholeheartedly embraces dance, trance and song. As if wrapped round in the sophisticated and sensualist grooves of the Congolese Emile Biayenda’s vocalized drumming and clothed in the powerful lyricism of Avenel’s double bass, which carrie…

…Jimmy Giuffre 3 with an extra clarinetist and percussion. Benoit Delbecq’s compositions, while not as inscrutably beautiful or as blues-y as Giuffre’s, have a similar sort of cool abstraction about them. Delbecq hails from France, and he has worked with British drummer Steve Arguelles since the early 90s in The Recyclers with guitarist Noel Akchote….