Perception Mestari

“To finally become oneself: that was the lesson, in the 1960-1970s, that European musicians attracted to improvisation had learned from American free-jazz. Following this idea, the musicians of Perception, whilst individually accompanying Mal Waldron, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffin or Hank Mobley when they played in Paris, decided early on to break free from what was going on across the Atlantic and seek their own authenticity.

When Mestari, their third and final album, came out, Yochk'O Seffer, Siegfried Kessler, Didier Levallet and Jean-My Truong had four years of questing and originality behind them developing their own individual language. A language in which the spontaneity of the improvisations did not exclude influences taken from European folk or classical traditions.

Balanced, ethereal and structured, Mestari was a return to the original core quartet (the previous album included numerous guest musicians). It opens infinite perspectives and is totally in phase with what was being produced in France at the same time by Cohelmec Ensemble and the Dharma Quintet.”