Olivier Le Goas & Ensemble Pulse | The Chaining Loops | April 10, 2026
French drummer and composer Olivier Le Goas returns with The Chaining Loops (April 10th, 2026), a new septet album recorded in Paris with Ensemble Pulse, a group formed from decades of shared musical history. Known for his command of complex meters and polyrhythms alongside a strong melodic sensibility, Le Goas brings together long-form composition, collective interplay, and a clear narrative arc across five original works.
Born in northern France, Le Goas has built an international career bridging European and American jazz traditions. A formative period in New York in the early 2000s saw him collaborating with musicians including John Abercrombie, Jean-Michel Pilc, Kenny Wheeler, Drew Gress, Ralph Alessi, Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Nir Felder, Kevin Hays, and Phil Donkin – experiences that continue to shape his writing and approach to ensemble music.
The septet Pulse took shape during a 2021 creative residency supported by DRAC Bretagne, and brings together musicians Le Goas has collaborated with across multiple projects and eras. After a postponed 2023 session, the ensemble entered Studios de la Seine in Paris in June 2024 to record The Chaining Loops.
Musically, the album is driven by evolving forms built from interlocking rhythmic patterns, shifting meters, and long melodic lines that remain central even as structures grow more complex. Le Goas’ writing moves fluidly between groove-based propulsion and open textures, allowing dense ensemble passages to give way to exposed solo moments. Across the record, contrasting blocks of energy and lyricism are shaped into coherent, forward-moving narratives.
The album presents five compositions: The Chaining Loops, Direction, Friction, Fifteen Miles, and Light in the Sky. The title track unfolds as a wide-ranging piece built from recurring melodic and rhythmic cycles, with melody as its guiding thread. Elsewhere, Direction expands from lyrical clarity into increasing density, Friction explores rhythmic complementarity and shifting instrumental roles, Fifteen Miles contrasts solemn complexity with lighter motion, and Light in the Sky closes the album with shifting textures and an expansive final coda.
With The Chaining Loops, Olivier Le Goas affirms his place as a composer able to balance structural ambition with immediacy, creating music that is both meticulously constructed and vividly alive.
Line up
Olivier Le Goas | Drums
Frédéric Borey | Saxophones
Médéric Collignon | Cornet, Voice Gueorgui Kornazov | Trombone Michael Felberbaum | Guitar
David Patrois | Vibraphone
Yoni Zelnik | Double Bass
Track Listing
The Chaining Loops
Direction
Friction
Fifteen Miles
Light In The Sky
PR Quotes
Downbeat Magazine (USA)
“★★★★ – An exciting album of shifting masses, virtuoso musicianship and ever-changing rhythms, The Chaining Loops bristles with provocative interplay“
Paris-move (FR)
“In the broader landscape of contemporary European jazz, The Chaining Loops stands out as a work of notable structural ambition and artistic coherence, a recording that bridges continents, disciplines and sensibilities with rare assurance”
Jazz Journal (UK)
“The Chaining Loops is a splendid achievement“
SK Jazz (SK)
“Le Goas’s writing moves seamlessly between groove-based prompts and open textures, allowing dense ensemble passages to give way to exposed solo moments”
UK Vibe (UK)
“confident and cohesive release from Olivier Le Goas, one that showcases both his compositional craft and his ability to bring together a unified ensemble voice”
Esensja (PL)
“This is definitely one of those works worth having on your shelf.”
Jazz Views (UK)
“A highly rewarding album with rhythm and melody at its heart, able to move and excite in equal measure while keeping the mind fully engaged”
La Habtacion del Jazz (ES)
“Intertwined rhythm changes, melodic contrasts, a narrative in continuous progress“
Couleurs Jazz (FR)
“This is a beautiful album from a drummer whose recordings as a leader regularly confirm his talents as a composer and gatherer of talents..”
Modern Drummer Magazine (USA)
“The Chaining Loops was the biggest musical surprise of the month. This is an excellent record that drummers and lovers of good music will really enjoy!”
Jazzthing (DE)
“The pieces, all written by the bandleader, are densely and intricately woven, yet still result in a smoothly flowing listening experience: with rocking guitar lines, shimmering vibraphone sounds, beautiful horn arrangements and expressive vocal passages”
Jazzthetik (DE)
“quite relaxed, well-balanced, and thoughtfully worked out”
Jazztrail (USA)
“His hyperactive pulse not only supports the soloists but also fuels consistently engaging interplay”
Blue in Green (UK)
“Delivering an album that is painstakingly intricate in its composition but vibrant and free-flowing at the same time must be no small achievement but Olivier Le Goas wears the unique ability to do so with pride”
Jazz in Family (IT)
“A record that doesn’t impose, but invites. And, above all, a work that confirms how contemporary jazz can still surprise, excite and open unexpected spaces within the listener”
Maxazine (NL)
“proof that a drummer from Oise, trained in Paris and New York, is capable of writing large-scale jazz narratives that set both the mind and the body in motion.“
Jazz-fun (DE)
“a vibrant, pulsating work – full of movement, creative tension, and sonic diversity”
Cuttings
