CD Review: Pierrick Pédron – Kubic’s Cure

Pierrick Pédron (Alto); Thomas Bramerie (Bass); Franck Agulhon (Drums). + Mederic Collignon (trumpet); Thomas De Pourquery (vocals);  Ghamri Boubaker (Algerian Flute).

(Review by Steve Horowitz).

Many jazz artists have paid homage to popular music Herbie Hancock’s River - The Joni Letters (Joni Mitchell)  and Bill Frisell ‘s All We Are Saying a John Lennon  tribute are just two that spring to mind. To this growing cannon of work a most unlikely contender can be added. Pierrick Pédron’s previous album Kubic’s Monk  was a tribute to the great Thelonious, his latest album Kubic’s Cure  is a  tribute to 80’s goth rock icons The Cure. I must confess  to being  a big fan of Robert Smith’s legendary band so it is not without prejudice that I come to this album .

This album is driven by Bramerie’s thumping  bass and Agulhon’s  pounding drums whilst Pédron plays his alto over the top of the rhythm section. Most of the The  Cure’s most famous tracks are covered  starting with The Forest and  then moving onto In Your House which has some great backing vocals from guest Pourquery. The Caterpillar follows and then my own personal favourite Cure track  In Between Days which is interpreted very differently here. The best song on the album for me  A Reflection has a truly eastern feel  augmented  by the Algerian instrumentation  of Boubaker. The Eastern theme is continued with what on face value appears to be a rather dodgy title Killing An Arab but in fact this song is referring to a passage in the  Albert Camus novel ‘The Stranger’ .  Just Like Heaven / Close to me and a great version of Lullaby bring us to the final track on the album. Sadly, it is not Love Cats or Let’s Go To Bed but given these omissions what could be more appropriate than Boys Don’t Cry.      

I would be interested on hearing what people new to The Cure would make of this album. Personally, with a few notable exceptions, it fails to capture the melancholic, hypnotic, haunting feel of the original band but nevertheless it is an interesting and enjoyable take on one of Britain’s finest.

Steve H.