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Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Recent Listening: O Canada

January 3, 2019 by Doug Ramsey

It is not news that Canadian musicians continue to emerge into jazz prominence. Canada has long enriched this music with important players, composers and arrangers. A complete list of them would fill this page and several more. To mention a few, think of the contributions of Gil Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson, Rob McConnell, Don Thompson, Guido Basso, Ed Bickert, Renee Rosnes, Lennie Breau and Peter Appleyard. Then there are pop figures, including Joni Mitchell and Michael Bublé, who sometimes edge into jazz and occasionally take a full plunge.

Let’s mention just a few recent recordings by Canadians whose work has caught the ears of the Rifftides staff.

Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop: Abundance.

The Toronto drummer’s most recent sextet album has the same players as his 2017 Rev . They are all Canadians except for New Yorkers Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone and Dan Loomis on bass. Tara Davidson’s alto saxophone is frequently the ensemble’s lead voice. The phrasing and inflections of her solos suggest a deep connection to and understanding of the blues. Frahm is one of the most impressive tenor players to achieve widespread attention in recent decades. His work here provides further evidence of his flexilibity and consistency. Trombonist William Carn, pianist Adrean Farrugia, bassist Dan Loomis are impressive in all respects. Cervini’s brush work, in “Gramps,” a remembrance of his grandfather, is at once restrained and expressive in his commentary behind Davidson’s alto solo. “Abundance Overture” finds him alternating between brushes and sticks as improvisation passes from player to player, then vigorously driving the proceeding as the ensemble goes into an almost Bachian counterpoint reminiscent in spirit of the Dave Brubeck Octet of the late 1940s.

https://amzn.to/2CNtM5H

Allison Au, Wander Wonder (Allisonaun.com)

Following “The Valley,” a mysterious synthesized track that would be perfect behind the opening credits of a sci-fi movie, alto saxophonist Au and her quartet of fellow Torontonians get down to jazz business. Her sound is as spacious as her conception, with occasional side trips into the horn’s altissimo register. Her ten original compositions have variety and pacing that give the album attractive, logical, progress. “Morning”—unrelated to the Clare Fischer tune of that name—is a piece of calm reflection that could well attract other musicians. The synthesizer shows up again for atmospheric swooshes in the piece called “Red Herring.” In the course of the album pianist Todd Pentney constructs several story-telling solos. He, bassist Jon Maharaj and drummer Fabio Ragnelli work together smoothly and inventively in support of Au. We are almost certain to hear more from them—and from her.

https://amzn.to/2LP9yvg

Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux, Path Of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings)

Born in Toronto, living now in New York City, saxophonist Nachoff has long been fascinated by astronomy and, in particular, the phenomenon of lunar eclipses. In 2017 he was rewarded with the eclipse that inspired this album of adventurous music. Joined by an equally intrepid saxophone partner, David Binney, Nachoff added to his lineup pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Nate Wood and Kenny Wollesen, a drummer whose explosiveness is balanced by his sense of order and form. All of them are champions of the avant garde whose respect for the modern mainstream tradition is obvious. Together, the four translate Nachoff’’s fascination with science into music that incorporates influences of Kenny Wheeler, Shostakovich and Prokovief. There is also a deep bow toward John Cage through the inspiration of his “Works For Prepared Piano And Toy Piano.” But, back to the source of Nachoff’s inspiration, the title tune sets into musical language the album’s commitment to understanding of scientific truths. Among the stimulating side trips is the incorporation of a vintage theatre organ from the 1920s. You’re unlikely to go to sleep while this album is playing. It’s due for release early next month

An extra

Scott Morin of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has compiled a list of musicians he considers Canada’s best jazz artists under the age of 35. Be prepared to spend a lot of time with Morin’s list, or make many visits to his CBC page, because he incorporates performance videos of all 35 musicians on his list (that’s a link).

Happy New Year to our readers in Canada and  our many friends there.

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Comments

  1. Bob Russell says

    January 4, 2019 at 11:11 am

    How could you overlook the BEST Canadian.?…….Oscar Peterson!

    • Doug Ramsey says

      January 4, 2019 at 10:08 pm

      Peterson is now added to the list at the top of the post

  2. Harry M Monty says

    January 4, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    Hi Doug,

    I think you will find that Peter Appleyard , although he may have lived in Canada most of his life and taken out Canadian citizenship, was actually born in England – Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire.

  3. Orsolya Sarvari Bene says

    January 4, 2019 at 2:24 pm

    I’ve seen the Mary Lou Finlay interview with Desmond. His conversation was on three levels indeed. You go back later to think about something he said and get a new insight. He says “This whole thing ends appropriately enough in 1984.” What’s the thing?

    The growth of his investments. It turned out that he needn’t have been concerned. His cache continued to grow and ended up being a boon to the American Red Cross, his sole inheritor. See pages 303 and 311 of Take Five: The Public And Private Lives Of Paul Desmond.–DR

    He seemed to know he only had a short time left to live. I wish the video contained the performance by his band. It only has the introduction by the two hosts and the interview.

    P.S. I know this has nothing to do with your main post. I scrolled down to read the Weekend Extra: Desmond Speaks from February, 2010.

  4. Ken McCarthy says

    January 5, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    A Canadian who belongs on the list: Jane Bunnett. Besides being a world class jazz player (3 Grammy nominations) in her own right, she has kept the music flowing between North America and Cuba for over 30 years (thanks to Canada’s sane policy towards Cuba.) Many young Cuban musicians with now-thriving global careers (Pedrito Martinez, Dayme Arocena, Yissy Garcia) got their important off-the-island exposure playing in her bands.

    • Doug Ramsey says

      January 5, 2019 at 10:00 pm

      For video of Jane Bunnett performing with some of those young musicians, see this 2015 Rifftides post.

  5. Gerald says

    January 6, 2019 at 1:12 am

    Isn‘t Diana Krall Canadian?

    Best Wishes from Vienna/Austria,

    • Doug Ramsey says

      January 6, 2019 at 12:10 pm

      Yes. She was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled his life in journalism... [Read More]

Rifftides

A winner of the Blog Of The Year award of the international Jazz Journalists Association. Rifftides is founded on Doug's conviction that musicians and listeners who embrace and understand jazz have interests that run deep, wide and beyond jazz. Music is its principal concern, but the blog reaches past... Read More...

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Doug’s Books

Doug's most recent book is a novel, Poodie James. Previously, he published Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. He is also the author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers. He contributed to The Oxford Companion To Jazz and co-edited Journalism Ethics: Why Change? He is at work on another novel in which, as in Poodie James, music is incidental.

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