During the second half of my stay in France, visits to locations were a little more leisurely and i took the opportunity to revisit other know locations.
The town of Auvillar towers over the Garonne river, located on the travel route to Compostelle, it features an old covered market square built with measures for grain and cereals – some of which are now rare.
It is a busy place with tourism and local trade, and similarly, the church is buzzing with bursts of activity. In between visitors and prayers, i managed to squeeze a little empty space with melodic overtones…
While travelling across the pyrenees, a few places punctuated the journey. in Barèges, spa town situated high up in the mountains, a powerful torrent crosses the town. After an energising meditation by the water, i stopped in the small local chapel to keep my practice fingers running along. And of course, inspired by the gentle yet powerful vibe, i recorded a couple of pieces.
In luz, it was a pleasure to revisit the 12th century building of the fortified Templar church. The solid outside wall are drenched in sun and exposed to wild elements while the inside, in contrast, is dark and completely still. This displacement mirrored a space i could feel between the force and gentleness of the natural elements, so present and powerful in the area.
My head still in the rushing waters of torrents and high mountain glaciers after a day walk. i stopped for meditation in a small town, on the road returning from gavarnie. for once, i did not have my saxophone with me and decided to put to use a brand new shakuhachi i had just finished making. Its frail and gentle sound filled the grand space of the church and suddenly echoed the force i’d felt while watching the creation of a new waterfall from snow melting.
The last day in the mountain area, i had to make a couple of stops, just to review an amazing church i remembered from my previous trip. In the small passage town of Cieutat, the church was still just as overwhelming, but the more active feel of that particular morning removed some of the mystical quality. These last two visits were punctuated with flower duty, water changes and general church bustle. As i settled into the feel of the place, i caught myself playing similar chord structures and colours to what i had played during my last visit there. Was this harmonic movement really in the stone? Part of this place… For a second, i had a weird flashback, and yet made no effort to repeat the material from memory. And of course the improvisation took me somewhere else, but i could sense that that same colour / feel / tone was in the music, only slightly different – like a person you know well and meet again further down the line of their personal history.
Rushing down the mountains and on the road back to civilisation, on the way to my next gig, another quick stop took me to St Martory church… The flower duty and water changing provided background and clear marks where the atmosphere was saturated with the underlying sound of the nearby river. At first, the drone of passing water merged with traffic entrained me to play long overtones and focus on the interplay between harmonics contained within the breath sound. Soon, a pulse developed, water rippled, melody splashed. gesture. movement and form.
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le repos des plaines
alto saxophone, 02 june 2016
église de st sardos
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jours de lente
alto saxophone, 02 june 2016
église de st sardos
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roads and waterways
alto saxophone, 27 may 2016
église de st martory
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new flowers
alto saxophone, 27 may 2016
église de st martory
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the journey of water
alto saxophone, 27 may 2016
église de cieutat
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crest lines
alto saxophone, 27 may 2016
église de cieutat
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ripples from falling pebbles
2.1 shakuhachi, 26 may 2016
église de gèdres
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contrepoint de rivière et vent
alto saxophone, 25 may 2016
église de luz
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courte descente libre
alto saxophone, 25 may 2016
église de luz
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road squiggles
alto saxophone, 24 may 2016
église de barèges
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torrent under a low sky
alto saxophone, 24 may 2016
église de barèges
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sarrasin champart
alto saxophone, 17 may 2016
église de auvillar
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millet avoine
alto saxophone, 17 may 2016
église de auvillar
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