Ping Machine: ENCORE – Live au Petit Faucheux

Bastien Ballaz – trombone; Stephan Caracci – vibraphone, glockenspiel & other percussion; Guillaume Christophel – baritone saxophone & bass clarinet; Andrew Crocker – trumpet; Jean-Michel Couchet – alto & soprano saxophones; Fabien Debellefontaine – alto saxophone, clarinet & flute; Florent Dupuit – tenor saxophone, flute, alto flute & piccolo; Quentin Ghomari – trumpet & flugelhorn; Didier Havet – bass trombone & tuba; Paul Lay – piano, fender Rhodes & minimog; Rafael Koerner – drums; Frédéric Maurin – guitar, minimog & direction; Fabien Norbert – trumpet, piccolo trumpet & flugelhorn; Raphaël Schwab – double bass; Julien Soro – tenor saxophone & clarinet

Unmatched

After two studio albums, Ping Machine recorded their first live album, "ENCORE," on March 22nd and 23rd, 2013, at the Petit Faucheux. It's lively, distilled, passionate, and uncompromising. Frédéric Maurin is the leader of this ensemble of 15 musicians. He underscores his preference for risks and unfolds new, brilliant, and demanding compositions full of nuances and surprises on stage.
His musicians play at the limit and surpass themselves in playing these competition-oriented pieces. The shared joys and emotions are clearly audible in these live recordings. In front of an audience, the wildest and most pressing aspects come to the fore best.

More information at www.ping-machine.com

Press:

"(...) here, however, the big band under their leader, composer, and guitarist Fred Maurin, demonstrates that they are not only a powerful force in the studio. They also combine temperament with precision in concert, loving rhythmically intricate edges and funny jumps, fragile beauty and broad pathos."

Jazz thing 02/14 (Uli Lemke)

"Free improvisations over a polyrhythmic and cluster-infused sonic tapestry are repeatedly captured by arranged orchestral blocks that work in interesting ways with the timbres of tuba, bass clarinet, piccolo flute, and percussion instruments."

SONIC 01/14 (Uwe Ladwig)

"A tremendous rediscovery (...) bursting energy with compositional sophistication (...) let their improvisational class run free with spontaneous ideas, the courage to take risks, and the joy of long, intricate solo excursions."

Böblinger Bote 12/13 (Michael Stürm)

"'Encore!' (...) is the current motto for 15 alert jazz rock innovators from Paris, who for several years as Ping Machine have been illuminating the sky of large ensembles."

Jazzthetik 11/13 (Stefan Pieper)

"The most impressive encores are probably those where the musicians come back on stage to ignite another stage, and ascend even higher with another boost. (...) consistently exciting in both longer suites and interludes."

Jazz'n'More 11/13 (Christof Thurnherr)

"'Encore' is the first live album of a young French big band that can easily stand comparison with the Orchestre National de France. (...) the band itself is a unit in its diversification, always keeping the collective dimension in sight."

Jazz Podium 11/13 (Ulfert Goeman)

"Held together by a great dramaturgy, Ping Machine presents highly exciting soundscapes that cause a sensation at every New Music Festival, but could also bring pleasure to a rock audience. The fact that all this also works live with such precision, verve, and eager playfulness raises hopes that Ping Machine will soon be discovered on German stages as well."

Der Kurier 10/13 (Johannes Frisch)

"Fred Maurin's compositions are both probing and clear, fluid and impeccably executed by his guys, led with stunning finesse, pointed solos full of surprises (...) Once you fall for this orchestra, you can hardly do anything but remain faithful to it."

Jazz Magazine (CHOC) 09/13 (Thierry Quénum)

"The three compositions on this CD offer a very fine balance between probing orbits and familiar worlds. A music that, as an accompaniment, opens up entirely new horizons without any traumatic imbalance."

Jazz à Paris 09/13