Hadouk Quartet
Naive Hadouk Quartet : Hadoukly Yours (F,2013)****
-Didier Malherbe, Loy Ehrlich, Eric Luhrer, Jean-Luc Di Fraya-
I remember how Hadouk started, first as a rather jazz fusion based ensemble, then evolving towards an all-world folk duo, where Didier Malherbe showed the original stories of voices that he discovered in all sorts of ethnical flutes, now being a quartet with roots in jazz but also still in all world jazz fusion enhancement and close interest. I keep on having the impression they still represent present future mentality of being world citizens, belong to any influence or world music style mixture or to whereever their interests takes them. Didier Malherbe shows more preference to the doudouk now, a kind of ethnical clarinet, which he manages to play in different moods and not just the ethnical melancholic one and certainly not in the hysterical one, but also extremely moodily, like a saxophone/clarinet or even with the smoothness of a jazz mouth harmonica. The rhythms are often in a brushed jazz drum fashion, keeping the mood to the acoustic atmosphere, but together with the bass/double bass there are moments when it shows more activity in an African bass-like setting. In the suite there’s a small drum solo. We also have a jazz guitar’s (mostly picking), which sometimes also still is going along with rhythmic strums and the brushed mood. Also used is lapsteel guitar a few times as well as the banjo adding folk-rock accents, occasionally an element of blues. As a kind of public winner and bonus/bis track they interpret “Blueberry Hill” with banjo/cello and the clarinet-like playing on the doudouk. With thistrack, their moody band style found also its public teaser.
Tangram Didier Malherbe & Loy Ehrlich : Hadouk (F,1995)*****
Perfect All World Fusion comming forth from ethnic instruments (like lots of flutes) itself. A reinvention from World Fusion from within. One of the best items in the genre. Highly recommended !
For those who does not know yet : Malherbe played with the psychedelic group Gong for almost 20 years. This is very different. Earth Soul music I prefer to call it. (The best release of the duo).
