AQ&F - Live Quintet 2025 - Progressive Voyages Review PV096
AQ&F – Live Quintet 2025- Progressive Voyages Review PV096
This is a bit Different for Progressive Voyages as it is a Review of a live show from Arnaud Quevedo and friends recorded in concert at Le Clos Le Perouse – Rochefort sometime in early 2025 as the cover doesn’t actually state the date the show happened exactly,
The show contained music from his earlier albums, Electric Tales(2020), Roan (2021), and 2nd Life (2023). It also adds on the download only a new track Mushi's Forest.
The music is jazz in a heavy style, With some great Saxophone both soprano and Baritone) from Julien Gomila, Alongside the energetic bass of Noe Russell and the mostly wordless vocalisations and keyboards of Eloise Baleynaud and Drummer Hortense Mailhos who along with Arnaud Quevedo for this fine quintet and make some heavily progressive Jazz music.
The cd version of the album has 9 tracks, the download has a bonus track in Muslims Forest, the album commences with a 2-part track A/ Dry and B/ Loo A being a saxophone introduction to the band and the main part /B Loo, the words are in French society I am totally blind as to any meaning they are seeking to convey. There is a great guitar section and some excellent bass playing to this track, it all sounds very together and focused.
Any 2.0 follows and this is heavy on the Baritone Saxophone, which adds a real denseness to the sound, it has traces of Van Der Graf Generator and even Magma in the overall sound, It sounds really effective and I have confess to being happily enjoying this album, the track also has some energetic guitar fills and interplay with the bass it also has a lengthy guitar solo that adds colour to the track, Arnaud can really shred when he cuts loose and he does that here, before the track enters a more rhythmic section with bass guitar, keyboards and drums all having their moment in the spotlight.
Prologue is next this is another multi rhythm track with an upfr9nt bass line and some fine drum fills in the mix, the guitar helps drive the song forward, which leads to another Arnaud solo in which the vocals and guitar mirror each. Other before Arnaut’s takes the floor totally with his guitar.
There is a conversation part in the mid-section with the bass still playing softly 8nnthe background as soprano saxophone joins as do the drums in a lively show, I’ve never heard a drum solo accompanied by saxophone so 5his is pretty unusual, the drums take a bigger part as does the bass, and vocals join this mix of sounds, meanwhile Arnaud is still playing his solo this brings the track to a fine conclusion.
We then have Electric Princess parts 1 and 2 which together take up over 15 minutes, This track begins with a lengthy Soprano Saxophone solo, a led supported by the athletic bass and dynamic drums, whilst this is happening Arnaud is playing arpeggios and dual melody lines on the guitar, This may seem like noodling but in reality it is all building a picture in sound, It is an interesting track there is a lot happening here, that just takes a while to get your head around it really, The second part Electric Princess Part 2 opens with delicate keyboards and some fretless bass, After which we get some guitar lines from Arnaud and more Saxophone blasts, As the track builds steadily, It has almost 7 minutes left to run so there is ample time for it to expand it sound, pace and style, Arnaud takes another fluid solo at this point, ably backed by the strong rhythm sectionwho are completely in touch with where Arnaud is leading them, the avenues that he is exploring here, The track turns to vocals from Eloise Baleynaud, who is joined by the Saxophone once again as the track enters a quieter section, The track is heading towards its conclusion now as the voices fade and the sax takes the helm for the tracks final bars.
A long but satisfying track all told, Next piece is from 2nd Life and it is the track Journey , which is another intense sounding track with heavy Baritone Saxophone and latterly keyboards and guitar arpeggios that sound expansive in tone, there is strong bass and drums here to support the saxophone and guitar, vocals begin and again I have no idea what they are on about sadly, They are very expressive and strong sounding though. I will say that this track the next (Hindsights) give us 20 plus minutes of the 2nd life album
This is an album I reviewed and enjoyed for Progradar, So it is not totally unknown to me, However in its live incarnation it does sound very fine indeed, Although it is both heavier and has more urgency than the studio version possesses.
The track has another fiery solo from Arnaud and great interplay with the Saxophones. A highly impressive track, the track closes with introductions to each player.
Equinox 2.0 is next this opens with some sprightly guitar lines and quickly settles into a quick groove with Eloise Baleynaud’s vocals to the fore and interjection from the soprano saxophone making a great impression before leading to an upbeat guitar part with more great playing and interactions between the various instruments. There then follows a brief solo from Arnaud and some complex interplay between the instruments and more vocals from Eloise Baleynaud to conclude the track.
Penultimate track is Ryoko which has Arnaud playing alto saxophone. The track begins with rather interesting Saxophone playing between Arnaud and Julien, This is actually pretty good and shows some real skills here, The bass and drums joinn8n and Arnaud switches back to the guitar for more arpeggio guitar lines, The track ends on a long guitar line but has been most unusual and different marking it out as a great track.
The album concludes with 2nd Life Partv4 which I’ve already mentioned earlier. It is a suitably impressive track with an energetic rhythm section playing and more great vocalisations from Eloise Baleynaud and subtle flashes and strikes from Arnaud’s hf8ne guitar.
I really enjoyed this album once I made considerable time e to fully embrace all that it offers, I think fans of VDGG and Magna will find much to enjoy here, you can find it on Bandcamp so have a listen for yourself you may find it as enjoyable as I did
Info here: Music | Arnaud Quevedo & Friends (AQ&F) https://share.google/h4iSoKbxydxILvxI3
Author John Wenlock-Smith
Tuesday 20th January 2026.