Marc Ducret - Can I Call You Wren? (1991)

'Can I Call You Wren?' is a piece from guitarist Marc Ducret's album 'News from the Front', recorded in 1991 and released the following year on Stefan Winter's JMT Productions label. It has since been reissued on the Winter & Winter label in one of their fancy cardboard digipaks. The record features Ducret playing a whole host of different guitars (acoustic, 12-string, electric, fretless) and backed by trumpet player Herb Robertson, trombonist Yves Robert, and drummer François Verly.

This record was Ducret's fourth record and the first that wasn't released on the French Label Bleu. While the earlier three records were excellent collections, it was in the first few years of the 1990s that his style really bloomed and became what some would term a 'signature' sound. At around this time, Ducret was also playing in Tim Berne's group Caos Totale, who released a phenomenal record called 'Pace Yourself' in 1991 (also on JMT and also featuring Herb Robertson). This period marked the opening of a very robust period in which Ducret would collaborate on a ton of material with NYC/Brooklyn players like Berne, Tony Malaby, etc., as well as continuing to release his own projects, mostly with European players.

I've always dug this record a lot because it seems to succeed where so many similar 'jazz-guitarist' albums fall flat on their faces. While the 'arsenal of guitars' thing often sets off warning bells signalling kitschy eclecticism and gearhead bullshit with so many other guitarists, Ducret is one of very few guitarists who can play them all convincingly. I'm especially won over by his acoustic guitar playing, which highlights his powerful and percussive playing style beautifully. It also gives the music a strong folk/country vibe that completely elevates it out of jazz, rock, fusion, etc...

'Can I Call You Wren?' has some really unusual arrangement elements going on, putting it in line with the two Miniature releases that Tim Berne, Hank Roberts, and Joey Baron released on the JMT label. For one, Verly is playing an electric drum kit of some sort, Robertson and Roberts are both playing with their horns muted, and Ducret overdubs an electric solo over the acoustic guitar that plays the head. In lesser musicians' hands, such an odd assortment might end up a horrible mess, but these guys end up creating something unique, compelling, and powerful. I especially love the piece's head, in which Ducret's crunchy, busy, and bluesy guitar part is juxtaposed with somewhat-logy-sounding horn parts. The very idea of an electric drum set is scary, but it ends up working beautifully in the piece, creating all sorts of interesting textures with the acoustic guitar, especially under Robertson's trumpet solo. Both that solo and Ducret's overdubbed lead absolutely cook, with the latter's searing distortion driving things into an almost orchestral wall-of-sound before the return of the head. Killer stuff through and through.

If someone, for any reason, would deem that a video appearing in this channel violates the copyright, please inform me immediately before submitting a claim to Youtube, and I will take care to immediately remove the video. Thank you.