‍Vison Visu, L’Autre Distribution, 2025

12/11/2025

‍Vison Visu/L’Autre Distribution/2025

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‍Personnel:

‍Janick Martin : diatonic accordion 

‍Robin Fincker : saxophone, clarinet

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‍In an intimate and imaginative encounter, Vison Visu (Face to Face) brings together the wildly talented Breton accordionist Janick Martin (Hamon-Martin, etc) and saxophonist and clarinetist Robin Fincker, who has been active for twenty years in European contemporary jazz and improvisational music scenes.

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‍If you want a toe-tapping piece of Fest Noz ear candy, this is not the recording for you. While we’re quite tempted to say ‘casual listeners need not apply’, there’s a lot going on here and it’s hard to say who might or might not be grabbed by the rich tonality, the unfolding of strange themes, and the constant experimentation and sonic exploration. This is a recording of profound depth and virtuosity. While there are some traditional melodies buried in the ‘spine’ of this material, overall this is a jazz album with Breton roots, one that is remarkably free and quite freaky. At times there is a complex, peaceful somberness to somewhat dreamy opening segments in particular, and at other times the music builds to an Ornette Coleman-like crescendo of intense noise.

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‍From their BandCamp page, translation ours: “Musicians with a deep love of melodies, fascinated by the magical power they can hold, Vison Visu absorbs tunes from all eras, delving into their essence and subverting conventional phrasing. Playing with breaks and melismas, dances and improvisations, the duo, with its resonant timbres, engages in a passionate and intense exchange.”

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‍Their BandCamp page actually contains much more useful information about this recording than any other source we’ve found, so we’ll continue more-or-less paraphrasing here. The two musicians met in cellist Vincent Courtois's Finis Terrae quintet, with whom Robin Fincker has collaborated for many years. Following an invitation from the Jazz à Dissay festival, they developed a repertoire that combines the duo's original compositions with melodies from Brittany, Scotland, and the Cajun country.

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‍Thanks to the support of contemporary music producer Marc Thouvenot, the Le Grand Pas collective, and La Buissonne studio, the duo was given the opportunity to record their repertoire in a direct and unadorned manner. Set up in the studio's main room, the pieces were recorded without cuts, in a single go and in just a few takes, allowing the duo to give free rein to their taste for the unexpected as well as sonic exploration. Mixed by Gérard de Haro and mastered by Nicolas Baillard at La Buissonne, Vison Visu's music conveys a non-linear expression of the passage of time, composed of cyclical comings and goings and interplay of memories, where the pleasure of playing and storytelling prevails over any preconceived plan.

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‍Where to get it: As always, a reminder that we do not support the use of streaming services, which undermine the ability of actual musicians to make a living. While this recording can be purchased digitally via iTunes, we recommend the same BandCamp page referenced above for digital and/or physical media.

The URL is: https://robinfinckerjanickmartin.bandcamp.com/album/vison-visu

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‍- Fañch