Two contrabassists, two trombonists, two guitarists, two percussionists, a string quartet and two marimba players; that is the incredible line-up of the Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp (OTPMD) from Geneva. Whoever is giving his band a five-part French name, while referring to a Dadaist who died 50 years ago, has a message: what we are doing is art. Fortunately, the 14-man band, who calls their style “Afropunkpopexperimentaljazz”, never forgets the grooves. English producer John Parish, responsible for almost all the important PJ Harvey albums, recorded “Sauvages Formes” in Bristol. Rough post-punk guitar meets the hypnotic sounds of the marimba, eerie choirs meet polyrhythmic percussion, and British folk rock meets West African rhythm. OTPMD moulds weird conceptual art into a musical form. An amazing, demanding but never exhausting album, to which you can just let yourself dance.
Check out L’orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp at Jazz sous les Pommiers on Qwest TV!
Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, Sauvage Formes (Les disques Bongo Joe)
Concerts :
- 1st September, Forest Sounds Festival, Brussels, Belgium
