La Grande Perezade

La Grande Perezade: Urban Bush

by Henry Smith
October 1, 2008

La Grande Perezade is a “mini big band" outfit comprised largely of French jazz and improvisational figures, though “big band" does not begin to describe the sounds within Urban Bush. Conductor and writer jean-Baptiste Perez's compositions stroke broadly across genres as diverse as anthemic fusion rock, free jazz blowouts and brief horn duets without ever losing a sense of unity.

Take the first track, “Le Tic-Tac de la Bombe," which starts off nice and droney, building ...