Floating doesn’t escape the noise of the world; it finds another way to move through it.
ACT
Emile Parisien | soprano saxophone; Yaron Herman | piano; Prabhu Edouard | tabla, percussion, vocals; Linda May Han Oh | double bass, vocals
Emile Parisien wanted Floating to be a counterweight to a world moving too fast and sometimes, in the wrong direction. His answer isn’t simply quiet music. On the soprano saxophone, he grabs onto emotion, twisting and squeezing his notes until the horn seems to be holding more feeling than the instrument ought to be able to hold.
The album began with a concert at the end of Parisien’s two-year residency in Paris. He brought together three musicians he had known and admired for years: pianist Yaron Herman, bassist Linda May Han Oh and tabla player Prabhu Edouard. What was supposed to be a one-time encounter went so well that they couldn’t just let the story end there. Less than a year later, after only two more concerts, they went into the studio and recorded “Floating” in two days.
A somber piano opening leads into Parisien’s soprano on “Asian Songs & Rhythms, No. 40,” with Edouard’s tabla accenting the rhythm underneath. Repeated phrases seem to evolve each time they return, while the soprano sounds almost like a voice—searching and expressive before pulling into the upper register, twisting notes. Herman’s piano answers with lines that can be delicate and forceful within the same phrase.
Edouard’s intense vocals and rapid tabla playing are a restless backdrop in “Portal,” and Parisien steps into it with a lyrical melody, threading his soprano through all that activity without getting swallowed by it. Herman’s choppy piano leaps in, pushing a jazzier line through the percussion swirling around it. The music keeps shifting until Parisien is left with the tabla and percussion, riding a fast, insistent line as Edouard pushes him along. Then the music suddenly quiets, as if they have passed through the portal into a quieter place.
That mixture of complexity and simplicity runs through the record. “Nusrat” begins with the saxophone repeating the same phrase until it takes a simple melody and dances it through the percussion. Herman brings a laid-back jazz feel, but he gradually pushes the tempo, tossing in piano swirls and higher notes as the percussion keeps churning underneath. Parisien picks up on the pressure, turning the volume up on the melody while Oh holds down the bottom with a bass line that never gets lost in the commotion.
Her bass gets the spotlight before “El Toro.” On “As It Comes and As It Goes,” the notes so loud you can almost feel the room shake. Oh starts a phrase high on the fretboard and answers herself lower on the double bass, creating a remarkable call and response with a single instrument. Her woody, resonant tone is rich, and she keeps changing the register and direction of the phrases without turning the solo into a display of technique. By the time “El Toro” arrives, the bass has already had one of the record’s most memorable moments.
“El Toro” is one of the most intense pieces on the record. Edouard attacks the tabla while his percussive vocals add another layer of rhythm. The music stops and starts, with saxophone, piano, bass, tabla and vocals trading phrases in rapid succession. At one point, Oh’s descending bass line locks in with the tabla, and the others pile back into the music. It feels like a spinning wheel with everyone grabbing on and holding tight.
Herman’s slow, melodic piano notes introduce “Arco.” Oh vocalizes softly along with him, while Parisien’s lonesome-sounding soprano lines add to the song’s open, spacey feel. It slows and fades, with Oh’s voice carrying it to the end.
Floating doesn’t escape the noise of the world; it finds another way to move through it.
