Auteur: Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson

Album review

Artistic inspirations can be invisible. Even in projects that outwardly state them, the connections may not be that obvious. Jazz alto saxophonist Amanda Gardier, who hails from the American Midwest, says she's using the films and more often the look of Wes Anderson's very distinct oeuvre as inspiration for these nine originals.  Accompanying her on this boat-pop exploration is her husband, guitarist Charlie Ballantine, bassist Jesse Wittman and in a wise move, drummer Dave King of the Bad Plus, who adds muscular patterns to the proceedings, playing intricate fills, and evincing his usual dexterity with cymbals, complex rhythms and forward yet not overwhelming percussiveness.

Triggered by a scene in Anderson's 2021 film, The French Dispatch, the Gardier original "The Incarcerated Artist and his Muse" is a breezy platform anchored by Ballantine's chording, incisive embroidering from King and easy going Gardier solos. "Electroshock Therapy," inspired by 2012's Moonrise Kingdom, is driven forward by an anxious back and forth from Ballantine, who then adds a fleet, effects-free solo.  The spotlight shifts to Gardier as she enters pecking away in short breaths, opening to more legato moments where her ideas flow naturally together with admirable style. The tune ends with drums, guitar and saxophone pulsing together. Insistent rhythms, this time with a touch of funk, are also at the center of "Order for Yourself" (after a scene in 2007's The Darjeeling Limited) where guitar and saxophone double each other, again throbbing together at the close. Engineered by Tyler Watkins at Postal Recording in Indianapolis, Indiana, the sound is dry and crisp. Whether Auteur generates the kind of feelings that Gardier says she likes best about Anderson's work is up to individual tastes, but the creative energy at work here is to be commended for looking far afield for artistic stimulants. © Robert Baird/Qobuz