Mycelium

Mycelium is (apparently) the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, threadlike filaments. The threadlike filaments here are saxophone, double bass and accordion, which mingle with Jacky Molard's violin alongside the flutes, guitars, drums and percussion of guest musicians to form this curious folk-infused jazz album.

In the 1980s Molard was violinist with traditional Breton band Gwerz. Since then he has co-founded Innacor Records and released four albums with his quartet, of which Mycelium is the latest. Opening track ‘Bolom’ harks back to Celtic folk music as does ‘Triangle’, where the rhythms and instrumentation evoke the sounds of Breton bombardes and binious (bagpipes).

If your ears are unaccustomed to the inflections of jazz you may find this collection quite a hard listen. All seven tracks seem designed to give the musicians plenty of scope to extemporise, with few tracks coming in much under seven minutes. Alongside the Celtic influences, there are excursions into the music of South-East Europe and North Africa, (and moments of unsettling sonic weirdness on the title-track.) Accomplished and original as it is, the cerebral, improvisational sounds of Mycelium may appeal more to regular readers of Jazzwise than to those of Songlines.