Accordion And Guitar? Seriously? Absolutely! Rivages – A beautiful new ECM release by Jean-Louis Matinier and Kevin Seddiki

Is this Jazz?

I’ve not only been neglecting my blog overall quite a bit since 2020, but particularly if you’re following this site because you’re interested in Jazz, I’ve been really not writing about that a whole lot recently.

Unfortunately, this trend started already in 2019, when I barely found enough new releases that interested me enough to write about them, and really hasn’t improved this year. But when I saw this new cover popping up in the Qobuz New Releases section, with the beautiful typical ECM style cover, I had my hopes up.

Luckily enough, I wasn’t disappointed.

Now, before we go to the album itself, one could really argue if this is “Jazz” at all. A duo of accordion and guitar is certainly not your typical jazz setting.

And indeed, the music takes many inspirations, from “Manouche” type “gypsy” jazz, to more ethnic music (Matinier previously played on several of Anouar Brahem’s albums, and one of the tracks is coming from traditional Bulgarian folklore) to Gabriel Fauré (track 3, Les Berceaux).

But who cares, this is beautiful music, full stop. I anyhow already had a certain soft spot for the accordion, being a big fan of Richard Galliano (see here, here, and here).

Jean-Louis Matinier & Kevin Seddiki – Rivages (ECM 2020)

I must admit, I’m not really sure what to write about this music.

I could be descriptive, and go into more details around Matinier’s long career including his contribution to Anouar Brahem’s masterpiece Le Pas Du Chat Noir.

I could equally detail the fascinating collaborations guitarist Kevin Seddiki has been part of over the years.

I could mention the amazing sounds quality of the album (though that’s not a surprise for an album produced by ECM’s Manfred Eicher).

Or I could go into a track by track description of the content. While I sometimes do this myself, I’m often struggling with the added value of trying to describe music.

Seriously, because this album is very special, I’d rather suggest you really give it a go directly. If you’re open to two outstanding musicians who just click and produce fascinating and intriguing music, check it out now.

My rating: 5 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz)