The virtuosic violinist Aline Homzy introduces us to her dazzling musical world on her debut album éclipse with her group Aline’s étoile magique. The album will be released August 25, 2023 via Elastic Recordings. Joining her on the album are vibraphonist Michael Davidson (Joe Chambers), guitarist Thom Gill (Knower), Dan Fortin (Bernice) on bass, and Marito Marques (Ivan Lins) on drums, with special guests João Frade (Munir Hossn) on accordion and vocalist Felicity William (Bahamas).The 11-track recording was ten years in the making and is a debut that showcases Homzy’s brilliant musicianship and compositional point of view with impressive clarity and maturity.
Homzy grew up in Montréal, Québec before moving to Toronto to study jazz. Private studies in New York with violinist Sara Caswell, arranger Sy Johnson (Charles Mingus’ arranger) and Berlin-based pianist/composer Aki Takasi had a profound impact on her musical trajectory. Intervallic melodies à la Monk, an Ellington-approach to writing for specific musicians, and Mingus-like shifts in tempi and moods are all present in this music. Above all else, Homzy shares the same musical goal that Monk, Mingus and Ellington championed: creating serious music – executed with a sense of playfulness, wit and humor.
Homzy waited ten years to record her debut album. “I needed that time to mature as a composer and improviser. I also needed to learn how to be concise with my musical statement,” she explains. éclipse is a testament to taking time and then creating with a laser-sharp focus and intention. Homzy and étoile magique create a richly nuanced musical world where theremins, vibraphones and violins combine to bring the great unknown to life.
Bientôt, we will collide, as with the rest of the album, features guitar legend of the jazz virals, Knower: Thom Gill; bass aficionado of Bernice: Dan Fortin; Michael Davidson: vibraphone wünderkind of Joe Chamber’s infamy; Marito Marques: although he is only on this track in spirit, is an in demand drummer across the board, including with Jesse Cook on the regular; Felicity Williams: one of the great innovators of voice, nary a day going by where she isn’t collaborating with a veritable potpourri of artists, including Bahamas & Avataar; and of course, the tantalizing violin of maestro Aline Homzy, playing with, let’s be honest: everybody.
This song seeks to put a question out to everyone, of connection, solidarity, and a collective love for the universal language of music. Aline delves deeply into her Francophone, Anglophone, and musical upbringing here, telling us that home is in the unity of our ancestral wanderings. She explores her three languages of choice in Bientôt, French, Music, and English. Aline wants us to know, regardless of our means of communication, that we can find a way to connect, and preserve the beautiful place that is this Earth, and its star friends above.
Thom Gill, starts us on the journey with an absolutely infectious guitar riff that opens the portal into this world. Felicity brings an airy weight, with delicate moves and otherworldly textures, the mark of a well-seasoned traveller through the nuance of the human voice. Aline doubles as an interpreter of the French lyrics, and a timely improviser on the violin, contributing luscious melodies and subtle textures. Dan provides a formidable earthy bass tone (charmingly playing Aline’s mother’s old double bass – a lovely touch of paying homage to her family), laying the foundation for a clear expression of intent, both with support and momentum. Michael adds a haunting yet intriguing buffet of synth squiggles and vibraphonic wiggles: calling out to greats like Cal Tjader and Bobby Hutcherson, but still with individuality.
Everyone here is at the top of their game. Bientôt, we will collide: a cohesive expression of connection, with individuals shining, but never losing sight of the collective intention.
This number is a triumph of musical vibrations, asking questions of origin, considering where we are right now, and offering an optimistic view of where we can go together.
Starring Space explores an array of folkloric musics enmeshed with a jazz-rooted process of improvisation. It seeks to embrace the nostalgia of a given moment or narrative while inviting the listener to imagine the mysterious worlds beyond the Earth and within each of us.
Its title, a language riff, seeks to harmonize two of the main themes éclipse. The first being a complete and all encompassing awe of the breadth and possibility of space, followed by the experience of the listener as they are encouraged to come along for an uplifting journey, a celebration of improvisation and folkloric rhythmic dialogues. It’s as if each listener is presented with an opportunity to find their own little stars of memory, and the space to paint the night sky with each one as they see fit.
The rhythmic feeling of the song, draws heavily from Madagascar and Reunion Island, a subtle blending of 2 and 3 beats to create a profound expression of joy, mixed with the nuance of melancholy.
Toronto provides a deep well of folkloric music from various cultures, and embraces the diversity of a deeply vast cultural interchange. It thrives on multiculturalism, and this song is meant to be a celebration of this defining feature of the city as the band displays their understanding of the different modalities within the musical community.
Composer, Michael Davidson, envisions that the song will take people on a fantastical journey where they can visit themselves, and see the bigger picture we are all a part of as we walk this earth, enchanted by the beauty of the night sky.
Caraway, is the first single to be released from the album, éclipse, the debut of dynamo violinist, Aline Homzy and her stunning project, Aline’s étoile magique, on Elastic Recordings.
Caraway is a harmonization of Aline’s main early windows into jazz & improvised music, Django, Charles Mingus, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the American Songbook. It emphasizes the elements she love most from these contrasting lanes, rigorous architecture, the freedom of improvisation, and an infectious wit.
The composed elements of the first half, draw heavily from her own internalization of Django’s compositions like Nuages or Stockholm, whereas the improvised structures grow out of a witty interpretation of common progressions in Jazz Standards, like Autumn Leaves or All the Things you are.
The final section is an homage to the radical fusion of R & B and popular song forms in Mahavishsnu, with the wildly creative rhythmic modalities of Charles Mingus, which grow deeply out of the African Diaspora, grooving with both freedom and a fierce drive. It is intended to be a playful yet intense, uplifting number, to hopefully inspire joyful dance and forward momentum.
