Peirani has created one of the year’s most surprising and satisfying albums—proof that the most unlikely combinations can yield the most rewarding music.
ACT
Vincent Peirani – accordion, accordina; Emile Parisien – soprano saxophone; Julien Herne – bass; Tony Paelman – piano, keyboards, Fender Rhodes; Yoann Serra – drums
French accordionist Vincent Peirani has a way of making his instrument sound like it belongs everywhere at once—in jazz clubs, in chamber halls, and the accordion shouldn’t work in a jazz-rock fusion setting, but Peirani makes it sound inevitable. Over the past decade he’s become one of Europe’s most distinctive and unpredictable voices. His latest project, Living Being IV: Time Reflections, shows just how wide his range can be.
Peirani’s longtime group—soprano saxophonist Émile Parisien, keyboardist Tony Paeleman, bassist Julien Herné, and drummer Yoann Serra—moves with him through a constantly shifting landscape. One moment you get delicate, swirling melodies; the next, a pulsing groove built for a dance floor. Some passages are playful and quick-witted, others quietly intense, but there’s always curiosity at the core, as if the band is testing how far each idea can stretch before changing shape.
‘Le Cabinet des Énigmes’ opens the album with a simple, almost childlike melody carried by soprano sax and electric keyboard. The accordion steps in halfway through, repeating phrases that layer with what sounds like an overdubbed accordina and saxophone, casting a peaceful, spectral glow. A pause near the end lets the electric keyboard echo the opening theme.
‘L.L.’ kicks off with a funky, Booker T. & the M.G.’s–style beat, the Fender Rhodes shimmering under Peirani’s accordion and bass. Parisien’s soprano sax solo is sprightly and colorful—he makes it sound easy, though he’s darting through plenty of notes. The rhythm section has a rock punch, with Serra’s drumming high in the mix and full of quick, inventive lines. Paeleman’s keyboard playing, sometimes flashing hints of George Duke’s Zappa-era runs, adds an electric bite to the otherwise acoustic setup. The result is part jazz, part groove tune—crackling with energy.
‘Physical Attraction’ is a highlight, built on shimmering keyboards and a reggae-like accordion pulse. The bass lays down a repeating phrase that almost sounds like a guitar riff, while the drums echo that classic ’70s Jamaican dub feel. Parisien’s sax pops in with short, well-timed bursts, and up high the keyboard adds a tinkling, rain-on-the-roof sparkle. It’s a cool, layered groove shaped by Peirani’s playful ear.
The three-part suite—’Clessidra,’ ‘Better Days,’ and ‘Inner Pulse’—highlights Peirani’s fondness for contrast and collage. ‘Clessidra’ begins delicately, with quiet piano and mournful sax, accordion whispering underneath. Gradually the ensemble swells: the sax grows bolder, accordion takes center stage with solo lines, and the piano dances in tandem.
‘Better Days’ is a hopeful waltz, piano and sax echoing each other over swirling accordion lines. They trade melodies back and forth, sometimes joining together before closing with a fragile ending. ‘Inner Pulse’ carries more drive, the accordion and rhythm section laying down a steady groove while the piano searches upward in introspective lines. Saxophone sweeps in with spiraling phrases as the band shifts between calm and urgency, before all five musicians land together in a forceful unison figure that caps the suite with drama.
After the reflective arc of the suite, ‘Nach e Vlado’ kicks the mood into overdrive with its Balkan-infused rhythms and playful, almost circus-like energy.
From that carnival-like swirl, ‘Bremain Suite’ feels almost regal, drawing on decades of pop and rock—Queen, Bowie, Portishead, and The Beatles—braided into one extended meditation. The bass lays down a reggae-like pulse while accordion and piano weave interlocking lines. Parisien’s soprano sax takes on a warmer, woody, almost vocal tone here, likely from a softer reed or rounded mouthpiece, blending beautifully as the piece builds intensity.
Shifting from the exuberance of ‘Bremain Suite,’ the album ends with ‘Phantom Resonanz,’ a meditation pairing sixteenth-century polyphony with modern jazz reflection. Peirani’s accordion shifts between organ-like grandeur and church-like phrasing, while sax, keyboard, and bass create a lush harmonic frame. Parts of the music feel centuries old yet alive in the present, with little touches from the Fender Rhodes adding color.
Living Being IV: Time Reflections rewards close listening. Its grooves, layers, and playful surprises unfold like a conversation among five extraordinary musicians—full of subtle turns and unexpected detail. Peirani has created one of the year’s most surprising and satisfying albums—proof that the most unlikely combinations can yield the most rewarding music.
