Marc Ducret (born 19 August 1957) is a contemporary avant-garde jazz guitarist who frequently collaborates with saxophonist Tim Berne. Ducret’s guitar style is idiosyncratic, having been called “highly original and very expressive,
Palm Sweat Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne, Screwgun, 2023
▶︎Palm Sweat: Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne | Marc Ducret | Tim Berne (bandcamp.com)
The material Tim had been sending me was sometimes a piece we had played, often a mere sketch or a short musical idea…we had performed a couple of them together, but most of what I chose to record was new to me. During the year 2021, sound engineer Pierre-Henri Thiébaut and I spent three weeks recording and mixing at my place; we also went to a studio nearby to record some acoustic guitars and percussion, and the horns, cello and voices were recorded by Antonin Rayon in his studio.
I had already recorded three solo albums, and also played some of Tim’s music as solo pieces on his album ‘The Sevens’ and I wanted to take the concept somewhere else. Recording at home gave me the opportunity to choose the format, instrumentation and colors required by each piece, but moreover, I sought to present Tim’s music which has meant so much for me in the past thirty years in various lights and shades: there are numerous echoes in Palm Sweat, from the vague memory of Hemphill’s ‘Dogon A.D.’ at the beginning of the opening track to an allusion to the piece ‘Sci-Fi,’ as well as Tim’s voice which can be heard -somewhat distorted – at one point.
I chose to “unfold” Tim’s compositions in my own way, at times stretching a melodic line into a series of pitches and dynamics, often using canons, inversions and retrograde melodies to enrich the given structure or create new ones, and sometimes adding chords to a melody or extracting a rhythmic cell to use it as a starting point for other developments. I was mainly concerned with the shape of the album, trying to provide a sort of musical landscape in which the listener could wander – that is why there is very little solo or improvisation on a form; instead of a linear shape I tried to put emphasis on color, texture and development.
–Marc Ducret, December 2022
credits
releases March 10, 2023
Marc Ducret – electric and acoustic 12 and 6 string guitars, fretless, soprano acoustic and electric, 4 and 6 string bass, prepared guitar, daxophone, percussion, daf, chains, suitcase, voice, handclaps
Fabrice Martinez – trumpet, piccolo trumpet, fluegelhorn, tuba
Sylvaine Hélary – alto flute
Chrstiane Bopp – trombone
Bruno Ducret – cello, voice, handclaps
Recorded at Marc’s place and at Near Deaf Experience by Pierre-Henri Thiébaut, assistant Sébastien Lorho.
Horns, flute, and cello recorded by Antonin Rayon at Studio Les Grosniers.
Mixed by Marc Ducret and Pierre-Henri Thiébaut.
Mastered by David Torn.
Co-produced by Marc Ducret/Seven Songs.
Executive producer Adam Hopkins.
All music by Tim Berne, Party Music BMI. Except Track 9 About This Recording by Marc Ducret.
Art/Design by Steve Byram.
Cover image based on a photo by Cindy Byram.
Portrait of the artist with cordless drill by Jim Macnie.
Thanks to François Vendramini for his wonderful guitars.
Palm Sweat is a split release between Screwgun Records and Out Of Your Head Records.
Screwgun/OOYH 001
NeuGuitars 