When the young pianist first knocked on the door of Igloo Records, he was barely 22 years old. Now, at just 30, he is already presenting his fourth album as a leader. The quartet adventure began in 2016 following a carte blanche he received from the Marni Jazz Festival. Igor surrounded himself with an international team, the French buglist Alex Tassel, the Luxembourg drummer Jérôme Klein and the young Swedish bassist Viktor Nyberg. An adventure that earned them the Octave for best jazz album for “Delta” in 2018.

And since you don’t change a winning team, after a series of concerts around the world, the quartet is back with “Cursiv”, a new album recorded in Alex Tassel’s studio on the Breton coast. The icing on the cake: they invite the Franco-Israeli saxophonist David El-Malek, notably known for his playing with the pianist Baptiste Trotignon, on some tracks.

Nine compositions, almost all signed by the Tassel-Gehenot tandem, which take us between post-bop and contemporary music. Strong melodies, intimate – even introspective – atmospheres crossed by a few groovy flourishes. An original music without frills, in keeping with its time, and that goes straight to the heart.

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