Moutin Reunion Quartet - Something Like Now (2005)

There is no other reunion in the annals of straight-ahead jazz like the one by French-born siblings François (upright bass) and Louis Moutin (drums); the two are identical twins who earned Ph.D.s in physics and math, respectively, before building incredible individual jazz résumés. While collectively they have performed around the world with scores of top names, French and otherwise, the twins find a special, hard-swinging magic with this quartet, which was formed in 1998. Something Like Now is their third CD for Nocturne, but first to secure major distribution in the U.S. No doubt those marketing the group will draw upon saxman Rick Margitza's association with Miles Davis, but it's the saxman's brisk playing above the clever rhythmic beds of the Moutins that truly sells the product. Louis wrote the melodic and upfront bubbly one-two punch of "Something Like Now, Pts. 1 & 2," which introduces listeners to the intensely percussive leanings of the quartet. The brothers have a ball, jumping and swaying without Margitza on the Charlie Parker tune "Bird's Medley," then get aggressive again behind the frenetic piano chordings of Pierre de Bethmann on "Take It Easy." The mournful, bluesy ballad "Surrendering" and more experimental "Echoing" wind things down a bit too far in the midst of all this action, but show the group's more sensitive side. The Something Like Now the Moutin brothers are referring to must be the new ways they make the classic influences of bebop fresh for a new generation.