You’re going to have to bear with me on this one, as to say I am confused myself is something of an understatement. If I have my facts right, after the release of ‘La Eternidad Inmediata’ in Ecuador in 2005, Copernicus performed 25 concerts all over the country with a show that was very faithful to the original album. The concerts were always performed in Spanish, but as recording costs were very low in that country Copernicus decided to rerecord the original. Once that was completed he then revisited the album, recording vocals in different languages and releasing them as different albums. So, the one we have here is the one with the vocals recorded in French, hence the title ‘L'Éternité Immédiate II.’ But, what is even more confusing is that the title of the album does not reference ‘II’ anywhere. Still with me? Leo from Moonjune has been working with Copernicus on reissuing albums, and apparently he prefers the French version, which is why this has now been made available again.
There is a booklet with the digipak, lyrics and notes, but of course it is all in French, which isn’t a lot of help to me, so instead I’ll concentrate on the music. This is also quite different to what I would normally expect from this artist, as while it is still jazz and avant-garde, there is a warmth and delicacy often missing from the albums I have heard from him. Normally he is wild and abrasive, very much in the face of the listener, commanding the band as if is the centre of a whirlwind but this seems to be much more thought out and directed. Maybe that is due to having just played a series of concerts, and then of course re-recording vocals in different languages, but whatever the reason this seems to be a far more structured and controlled approach than I would normally expect. In fact, it was such a surprise that it took a while for me to really get into this album, but musically this is quite superb with some wonderfully restrained playing from those involved.
Copernicus is always going to appeal only to a small audience due to his very nature, but if you haven’t come across him before then this may actually be a good place to start as it isn’t nearly as provocative as some of his albums while Cesar Aragundi (guitar), Freddy Auz (bass), Newton Velasquez (piano, synthesizer), Juan Carlos Zuniga Lopez (drums) and Matty Fillou (saxophone) are a heck of a band – all brilliant musicians in their own right.
