Les Tisserandes (“weavers”) is a French appellation given to followers of the heretical Gnostic movement known as the Cathars, who were essentially dualist in belief (matter is evil, the god of the Old Testament evil while in the New good, with Jesus as the messenger) unbridled by material attachments. They refused to take oaths, often seen as bordering on anarchy in a society largely illiterate and where such things formed the basis of commerce and public transactions. The population ranged from the borders of the Byzantine Empire to all through Europe. They were persecuted during the Albigensian Crusade and died out around 1321, though a sect that disparaged procreation probably didn’t have much of a future except through intense missionary activity.
The notes to this release tend to exaggerate their importance as a spiritual movement, no different than the huge variety of Gnostic sects that have sprung up for centuries. And what is even more questionable is the connection with the rising troubadours in Occitania during this time. There is a theory that the troubadours were an essentially Cathar phenomenon, but there are many other competing theories that suggest otherwise, the inherent Catholic aspects of the poetry being one, and the notions of courtly love and chivalry being another—something the Cathars, being dualists and anti-matter in thought would have not engaged in.
This release will appeal to anyone excited by the work of people like Jan Garbarek and his recordings with ECM where his saxophone hovers above medieval melodies. I must admit that this kind of musico-hypothesis has never attracted me much, and here we have a triple play of traditional music (bagpipes and Celtic harp), historical music (lutes, viola da gamba), and jazz (saxophone and bass). The music is based on some historical melodies, but as often as not composed by Jowan Merckx of Amorroma. Aside from the tenuous connection with the Cathars, it offers a basically interesting and pleasant experience while seeming somewhat musically schizophrenic – albeit in close up and clear sound. You already know who you are if this appeals—others should approach cautiously, and try to sample before buying if possible.
[If it’s close but no cigar, this unique Belgian label has a sampler CD of many other wildly-crossed-over musiks which is well worth hearing and may send you to one or more of their most highly individual albums…Ed.]
— Steven Ritter
