1993 · Album
Any Way
Recorded 1993 · Avant-Garde · Produced by Michel Portal, Bruno Chevillon
Open Sessions, Open Ears: Portal's Collaborative Vision
Portal gathers musicians from across continents and disciplines, letting each bring their own voice without constraint.
Michel Portal brought together an unusually fluid ensemble for Any Way (1993), mixing established European players with American and Indian musicians in a way that felt genuinely open rather than forced. The recording captures Portal's bass clarinet at the center of conversations rather than declarations — he listens as much as he leads. Kenny Wheeler's trumpet and Nguyên Lê's guitar appear throughout without dominating; Trilok Gurtu's percussion and Mino Cinelu's keyboards add texture that never hardens into formula. The tracks breathe. There's no sense of arrangement overpowering intuition.
This sits comfortably in Portal's larger work as a player who refuses to settle into a single idiom. Where some musicians build a sound and defend it, Portal moves — from free playing to composed structures, from trios to orchestral settings. Any Way is neither his most adventurous nor his most restrained, but it's genuinely collaborative in a way his other records sometimes aren't. The title itself says something: any way the music wants to go, these players follow.
The album found its audience among listeners who care about conversation over flashiness, but it never became a standard recommendation. It's more rewarding on repeated listening than on first encounter — the restraint pays off slowly. Worth exploring if you already admire Portal's aesthetic, or if you want to hear how European jazz and global percussion can exist in the same room without either pretending to be something else.
Who's playing
Jean-François Jenny-Clarkdouble bass
Michel Portalbass clarinet
François Moutinbass
Victor Baileybass
Nguyên Lêguitar
Marc Ducretacoustic guitar
Kevin Eubanksguitar
Kenny Wheelertrumpet
Robin Eubankstrombone
Yves Roberttrombone
Mino Cinelukeyboard, membranophone, percussion, synthesizer
Trilok Gurtupercussion
David Friedmanmarimba
Andy Emlerkeyboard
Didier Lockwoodviolin
Bernard Lubatkeyboard
Gil Goldsteinkeyboard
Daniel Humairmembranophone
Where next?
The musicians on this record
Turning Point 1992
Kevin Eubanks
plays guitar here
plays guitar here
♫
La Sorcellerie A Travers Les Ages / Gravenstein 1977
Daniel Humair
plays membranophone here
plays membranophone here
