Flat Earth Society Orchestra (FES) is approaching a quarter-century of unreliable music production, with a mission that remains burningly topical and a role that is still not played out. On The One, the indomitable Belgian institute takes on the single-mindedness of truth. In a maddening world of jumbling perspectives, bawling personalities and hunger for comprehension, "The One" has become the highest good. One truth, one clarity, one version, one story.
With unstoppable ferocity, FES tackles this ridiculous reduction. Peter Vandenberghe and Peter Vermeersch composed another multi-faceted work full of feints that stress its plurality. After all, doesn't the one, once it is passed and succeeded by the next one, become the previous one? 'The One' is a delusion, an ideal for bubbles, the epitome of creative impoverishment. It is a way of thinking that must be fought by all means. Less is not always more, less is too often ... nothing at all.
Cunning, cinematic and devious as you only find them in classic films noir; The One is an antidote to a nonsensical quest as well as an ode to unbridled fantasy. Grinning from within, the virus allows itself to be corrupted by FES into an irresistible shooting gallery of possibilities.
credits
released March 28, 2024
Musicians:
Wim Segers, vibrafone
Michel Mast, tenor sax
Bruno Vansina, baritone sax & flute
Pauline Leblond, trumpet
Berlinde Deman, tuba
Kristof Roseeuw, double bass
Bart Maris, trumpet
Benjamin Boutreur, alto sax
Peter Delannoye, trombone
Marc Meeuwissen, trombone
Maarten Flamand, guitar
Gert-Jan Dreessen, drums
Martí Melià Margañon, (bass) clarinet
Peter Vermeersch, (bass) clarinet & electronix
Peter Vandenberghe, piano & keys
Compositions:
Peter Vandenberghe: 1, 2, 5
Peter Vermeersch: 3, 4, 6
Recorded at Johnny Green Giant Studio, Oostakker (B), november 2023.
Sound engineers: Dieter Claeys and Mathias Stal.
Mixing and mastering by Oz Fritz.
Quick-witted, effortlessly eccentric and always on the
lookout for new and exciting challenges, Flat Earth Society is that rare beast: a constantly evolving orchestra that keeps shedding its skin and thrives best live.
Flat Earth Society receives structural subsidies from
the Flemish Government and the City of Ghent....more
unique, frenetic, provocative, surprising, amazing how they keep the listener on their toes while providing just enough structure to keep them grounded Tim Patterson
all of it good: the whimsy, the drama, the wild, the cosmic; deftly dancing the line between order and chaos, between the sublime and the vile, between the fathomable and the ineffable. puts the listener in a liminal limbo you don't get to be in (and still enjoy!) often. Tim Patterson
Acclaimed New Orleans bassist James Singleton taps a versatile sextet for eight extended doses of transcendent experimental jazz. Bandcamp New & Notable May 11, 2022