Kham Meslien – Fantomes… Futurs (LP, Heavenly Sweetness)

The solo debut of the French double bass player (ex-Lo’Jo) impressively explores the instrument in lyrical and playful depth – CD in digipack and LP (180 gram vinyl) on Heavenly Sweetness. The latest signing from Parisian label Heavenly Sweetness is bassist Nicolas “Kham” Meslien, who for 20 years was a permanent member of global crossover folk band Lo’Jo, well-known beyond France’s borders. With hundreds of concerts on all continents and musical collaborations with greats like Robert Plant, Archie Shepp, Robert Wyatt and Justin Adams, Meslien, who also plays in the trio Sweet Back, has achieved far more than many only dream of. Perhaps this aroused his curiosity all the more after he was asked to perform a solo performance at a festival for the first time. Meslien then developed his new music on the voluminous acoustic instrument during repeated live performances, for the recordings of these ten tracks he accompanied himself with the loop station, tapped delicate percussions on the strings and body and sometimes let the bow sing. The highly atmospheric pieces create landscapes, film scenes or architecture in the listener’s inner eye and often seem inspired by the daring of his great colleague and compatriot Henri Texier. “Fantomes…Futurs” is an experience between free jazz, ambient and experimental music, ennobled by Anthony Joseph’s spoken-word poem on “La Couleur (Elbows Of The Land)”.