Okidoki / dream jazz & more
"Si tu regardes" Is part of these pretty surprises that animate the life of a musical journalist: in
A bunch of discs received, it is put in a chain from which it will emerge only very difficult. JAZZ NEWS 2016
“The combination of timbres (including that of Anja Kowalski, which articulates a most voluptuous German) and the piano / saxophone alloy are here generators of amplitude, long songs interspersed with arpeggios and harmonious palpitations of great wealth . " LES INROCKS 2016
The quartet finds the harmony of colors, the subtle alchemy that draws tension dramaturgic, expressive ardor. The music is carried by superb melodies, a lyricism, a plastic, a phrasing, a bubbling, a real group sound, and the wide, all roundness, these profound deep bass of Laurent Rochelle's bass clarinet. Froggy's delight 2016
Laurent Rochelle puts his Okidoki quartet in a complicity field, where the dynamism of the interpreters swings the swinging to all berzingue. It twits, it twirls, it's funny, it's superbly played. By instrumentalists who hold the top of the pavement. RIF RAF magazine 2016
“This album immediately seduces not only because it combines ambition and accessibility or it abounds in beautiful melodies but also because it helps to broaden the notion of eclecticism in jazz music. To discover. ” DRAGON JAZZ 2016
“Between rigorous writing and a certain experimental urgency, Okidoki displays, with passion, mastery and poetic sense, 10 intense titles, most very stubborn, others more minimalist which give rise to a host of images and imagine Sort of scenarios. SLR 2016
“A two-year project of writing and a disc, "If you look", placed under the delicate star of poetry. A bias that reinforces the intervention of the singer Anja Kowalski. Delicious.” INTRAMUROS 2016
”(…)A journey within the reach of everybody, punctuated by graceful moments and spellbinding moments.” CHROMATIQUE 2016
“We were seduced by the very enthralling Airports, witness of a musical journey resolutely jazzy, driven by the breath of clarinet or saxophone Laurent Rochelle.” OPUS 2016
“The vocal jazz and very melodious of Okidoki, is the project of saxophonist Laurent Rochelle for very cinematographic album. Do not miss.” HOP BLOG
Review on american jazz blog : « Bird is the worm » by Dave Summer
Top ten album of 2016
« There are strong melodies here. When first given voice, the melody is like moonlight
filling up a darkened room. And when Laurent Rochelle Okidoki Quartet nurtures those
melodies, their vibrancy is often jaw-dropping in their beauty. But over time, it becomes
increasingly evident that it’s more than just expert melodic craftsmanship at play here.
Much more. Si tu regardes is about motion. It’s about the motion within the motion, and
it’s about how those motions give new shape and new meaning to those melodies, and it’s
why they’re able to make jaws drop as easily as generate curiosity to explore them further.
Opening track “Morgen” has a prowling cadence counterbalanced by a fluttering melody,
whereas “Synchronicity” marries a punchy tempo and cyclic melody, as if a whirlpool were
carried away by a stiff breeze. And then there’s “Echo Bird, Sing a Song to Me” and how
one voice makes tight curls in the long strands of melody. It’s a similar effect but an
entirely separate approach in how soprano sax keeps its calm on title-track “Si tu
regardes” even when drums suddenly floor the gas pedal. It’s the fluid grace of fish
darting below the surface of a raging stream and the sense of freedom they inspire when
allowing the tides to simply carry them away.
At first blush, this is a beautiful album with an eccentric personality. Time reveals the
sharp intelligence and substantive depth that lifts that beauty to an entirely new plateau. »
Review on JAZZ TODAY by Peter Butchers (UK) / Top ten album of 2016
« I’m a sucker for the bass clarinet. Its ability to create an almost human cry makes it a
most emotive instrument. On this album it’s handled by a master, Laurent Rochelle.
It’s good to have Laurent back on my radar. I’ve enjoyed his playing ever since his work
with the Lilliput Orchestra a decade or so ago. He studied under French reedsman Thierry
Maucci, and has worked in many areas, including theatre, dance, cinema, even puppetry!
This foursome (with Laurent on reeds, Frederic Schadoroff piano, Olivier Brousse bass
and Eric Boccalini drums) falls squarely in the jazz tradition, albeit with occasional nods to
Laurent’s interest in minimalist music. There is a bluesy feel throughout (exemplified by
Laurent’s solo on Okidoki Blues). All ten compositions are by the leader, three with the
added text and vocals of Anja Kowalski. One is even named after one of my favourite
places, the Cevennes.
It’s the second release from this line-up. I must get hold of the first. »