NEW RELEASE – AMAURY FAYE

Natural mix of New Orleans and modernism.  

Never ignore New Orleans knocking at your door. French pianist Amaury Faye, very prolific since his recording debut in 2010, immerses himself in the NOLA spirit with NO natives, tenor saxophonist Julian Lee, bassist Amina Scott and drummer Herlin Riley. The beloved modern jazz drummer has been a collaborator of Wynton Marsalis for ages, while Julian Lee has been putting in many hours in Marsalis’s Jazz At The Lincoln Center Orchestra.

A big part of RUST’s charm is its mix of contemporary post bop and down-home feeling, imbuing earthy NO Funk bangers as Huckabuck Garden and the Professor Longhair-ish The Barges Blues as well as post-Trane/Shorter compositions, represented by the sinuous melody Sirens Of The Crescent City and The Railyard, the latter two set on fire by the inspired Julian Lee (good at imbuing roots with modern vitality, remember Isaiah J. Thompson’s The Book Of Isaiah?).

Upon request, Amaury explains: “Julian Lee lives in New Orleans. He was on my previous album Arise and I became close friends with him and his family. Me and my wife went to visit them in February 2025 and stayed for three months. Of course, Julian is a close collaborator of Herlin Riley. When he learned that playing with Herlin was probably my biggest dream since childhood, he recommended me and that’s when we knew we could do something and we prepared the making of this album!” 

It speaks volumes about Faye’s integrity that he favors a good fat group sound and Julian Lee’s parts over an abundance of piano solos, though those are not to be dismissed, even when the lights have been turned low in the melancholic The Old Empress In The Gloaming, somewhat the reflection of a stately lady walking down the long mahogany chairs under the chandeliers, towards a sinister threat. Gothic touch to Faye’s canny blend of traditions.

Find RUST on Bandcamp here: https://amauryfaye.bandcamp.com/album/rust