L'Ensemble Rayé

L'Ensemble Rayé emerged as an offbeat, mostly buoyant outfit drawing from the European avant-prog currents of the 1970s and 1980s, a movement that encompassed ensembles such as Henry Cow, Samla Mammas Manna, and Picchio Dal Pozzo. Switzerland's key entrant into this forward-looking milieu was Débile Menthol, launched in 1979 and fluctuating between seven and nine players. Equipped with an expansive instrumental palette—violin, reeds, keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums—the group fused post-punk and new-wave drive with Rock in Opposition ingredients, yielding exploratory and technically demanding music that nevertheless carried a noticeably lighter atmosphere than core RIO acts like Univers Zero and Art Zoyd. Two central figures, Jean-Vincent Huguenin (also known as Jean 20 Huguenin) and Cédric Vuille, sustained their creative alliance well beyond the 1985 dissolution of Débile Menthol. They established L'Ensemble Rayé in 1987; its first recording, Même en Hiver/Comme un Pinson Dans L'Eau, appeared on vinyl in 1990, each side presenting material shaped by one of the duo. The set let both musicians display command of numerous instruments, with Huguenin especially prominent on guitar and Vuille on guitar plus clarinet; liberal overdubbing and additional players gave the impression of a complete ensemble across most tracks. The same stylistic orientation persisted on the follow-up, 1993's Quelques Pièces Détachées, where Huguenin and Vuille again supplied the bulk of the compact, RIO-tinged avant-rock and European folk-jazz pieces, supported by an eclectic roster handling bass, drums, hurdy-gurdy, keyboards, saxophones, and further colors. Saxophonist and clarinetist Pierre Kaufmann delivered notable performances and thereafter became a steady member.

En Frac!, issued in 1996, signaled a shift: a genuine band effort captured live in the studio by a five-piece lineup consisting of Huguenin, Vuille, Kaufmann, plus newcomers Shirley Anne Hofmann—chiefly on brass instruments such as euphonium, trombone, and tuba—and Swiss multi-instrumentalist Momo Rossel, another Débile Menthol alumnus. Rossel, who plays bass, guitar, and accordion, had previously directed the avant-prog band Nimal, in which Huguenin had also participated and to which Vuille, Kaufmann, and Hofmann had contributed as guests. The resulting collection of buoyant yet introspective European folk-inflected avant-rock and jazz numbers showcased the group's strongest writing, arranging, and instrumental command to that point, demonstrating that overdubs and studio artifice were unnecessary for striking results.

A playful, lighthearted, and guileless character has often marked L'Ensemble Rayé's largely drum-free textures—an approach uncommon among avant-garde ensembles and reminiscent of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Phillip Johnston's Transparent Quartet—making the subsequent children's project with a Winnie the Pooh theme less unexpected. Ein Fest für Pu den Bären formed the seventh installment in Kein & Aber's Pooh series and reunited the same five musicians heard on En Frac!. Although its sonic profile echoes that earlier release and appeals equally to adults and younger listeners, the disc revives the overdub-heavy, guest-augmented method of the first two L'Ensemble Rayé albums. Rossel and Hofmann soon departed, succeeded by two guests from the Pooh sessions, Yann Altermath and Julien Baillod. With Huguenin, Vuille, and Kaufmann augmented by Altermath on alto saxophone, alto horn, and percussion and Baillod on guitar and bass, the group resumed a quintet configuration for its fifth album, 2001's Vis-à-Vis Movers. The material, commissioned by the MOVERS dance company and first presented at a Zurich dance event in March 2001, upheld the ensemble's instrumental standard while venturing into fresh territory, including brief excursions into atmospheric, groove-oriented electronica. Despite the many contributors across L'Ensemble Rayé's catalog, the enduring collaboration between Jean 20 Huguenin and Cédric Vuille has consistently defined the group's identity; given that their partnership originated in Débile Menthol before the close of the 1970s, the longevity of this association stands out as especially noteworthy.