Souvenirs
Carlos Manuel Vargas
Navona Records nv6615 (navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6615)

Multi-award winning, Dominican Republic-born, Boston-based pianist Carlos Manuel Vargas performs a compilation of 13 technically and stylistically wide-ranging eclectic international solo compositions chosen with “[persons of influence on] my career in mind, hence the title of “Souvenirs” … a small gesture for all the support I have received over the years.”

The opening Impressões Seresteiras by Heitor Villa-Lobos is an attention-grabbing virtuosic and dramatic piece. From soft sparkling beginning, to louder clear runs, trills and lower notes, Vargas plays with well thought-out precision. Earl Wild’s arrangements of two George Gershwin compositions for solo piano – Virtuosic Etudes after Gershwin: The man I love, and Embraceable You – are each more classical/romantic takes of the famous jazz tunes, performed here with unique colourful sounds. The highlight of the three Rafael Bullumba Landestoy compositions is the short danceable jazz/Latin sounding Estudio en Zamba which drives Vargas’ energetic performance. Vargas plays the original first two movements of Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata Fantasy:  Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Sharp Minor Op.19. A soft reflective straightforwardly intelligent rendition of I. Andante I is contrasted by the superfast II. Presto. Three famous Edith Piaf songs are included and the highlight is Varga’s interpretation of La vie en rose, arranged by Roberto Piana. Vargas’ slightly rubato emotional playing gives the sense of a sung melody as it alternates between left and right hand to a soft high-pitched closing. Inspired performances of Poulenc, Vitier and Golijov compositions complete the release.

Kinetic
Kinetic Ensemble
Bright Shiny Things BSTC-0189 (brightshiny.ninja/kinetic)

Houston-based Kinetic ensemble was formed in 2015. The 16 professional younger generation string players perform without a conductor in flexible classical chamber and orchestral formations. This debut release consists of four works Kinetic commissioned and premiered which explore the connection between musical sounds and the natural world. 

The Wilderness Anthology by Patrick Harlin is an intriguing seven-movement, beautifully scored work for string orchestra and pre-recorded audio soundscapes from remote and imperiled ecosystems on the Amazon. I. Reverence/Dusk opens with very quiet prerecorded wildlife sounds like bird whistling. Instrumentals begin with melodic, contrapuntal string parts and repeated rhythmic low strings groove. VII. Dawn/Reverence features held notes alternating with recorded wave sounds. 

Avian themes reappear in Paul Novak’s A String Quartet is like a Flock of Birds, with very tight playing of accessible contemporary music. The held notes, plucks, high pitches and melodies are played alone or all at once in fast to slow tempi. To me it sounds like a sunny day with birds in the backyard! Next is Nicky Sohn’s What Happens if Pipes Burst? The softer slower string interludes are very musical and reflective. A faster ending with virtuosic super fast playing adds excitement. Daniel Temkin’s Ocean’s Call for String Orchestra is a three-movement composition for full orchestra. The extended cello solos in I. Hanging Cliffs, Rising Mist are dramatic. III. Lullaby Waves is sparse with passionate solos and an intense closing that slows down to bring this enjoyable album to an exquisite conclusion.

Gundaris Pone – Portraits
Liepaja Symphony Orchestra; Guntis Kuzma; Normunds Sne
SKANI LMIC SKANI 161 (lmic.lv/lv/skani/catalogue?id=244)

In 1950, Latvia-born Gundaris Pone (1932-1994) moved to the U.S., studied composition and, from 1963 until his death, taught composition at the State University of New York at New Paltz, also serving as artistic director and conductor of New Paltz’s annual Music in the Mountains Festival.

Pone’s single-movement, 24-minute Avanti! (1975) features violent dissonances, funereal solemnity and bitter irony, with quotations from the 1905 Latvian revolutionary anthem, With Battle Cries on Our Lips, Berg’s Wozzeck, a lamenting Bach chorale and repeated cuckoo calls. Helping to coordinate the score’s polyrhythms, conductor Guntis Kuzma is assisted by Normunds Šnē.

Filled with exaggerated, off-kilter cinematic tropes, American Portraits (1983-1984) depicts stereotypical representations of five professions: inventor (eerie woodwinds, jagged bursts of heavy percussion); film star (jaunty, cliché cowboy sauntering); powerful financier (film-noir dramatics with pounding brass and percussion); gangster (train whistles and boisterous jazzy riffs – Pone specified “1920s style,” so conductor Kuzma added a washboard to the mix); military genius (furious fanfares and a wild, Ivesian victory-march).

Pone enjoyed extended stays in Venice, and his brilliantly orchestrated La Serenissima, Seven Venetian Portraits (1979-1981) presents kaleidoscopic imagery of a day in the city, from morning shadows to afternoon waters, evening chatter and night fog: spectral Venice, in addition to the Arch of Paradise, the mouth of the lion and a meeting with the messenger of death. I found La Serenissima’s discordant impressionism – a vividly expressive amalgam of Debussy and Alban Berg – riveting listening throughout.

Serenade: I Miss You
Nicolas Hurt
Independent (nicolashurt.bandcamp.com)

Texas guitarist/educator/composer Nicolas Hurt showcases his creativity in this “short but sweet” under 25-minute release. During the 2021 COVID isolation Hurt commissioned three of his Austin musician friends for a solo guitar piece. Hurt was so inspired that these, along with his own composition, became the soundtrack to the 2023 film he directed, produced and performed on screen, with each tune introduced by composer commentaries. His EP liner notes encourage listeners to “find the film online and give it a watch”.

Zeke Jarmon’s Lemonade is not classical per se, though tonal with contrasting detached repeated notes and melodic sections, calm lower pitches and slower brief rock, pop, folk and jazz quenching one’s musical thirst. Justice Philips’ Serenade, I Miss You is more contemporary. Love the romantic feel with subtle atonality, short melodic fast to slow sections, chords, plucks, strums and higher soft melodies. Hurt’s three part The Springs is inspired by his beloved swimming locale. Minimalistic repeated descending lines and gentle brief high-pitched notes with occasional atonality emulate rippling water in 1. Hillside. The guitar becomes a percussion instrument with Hurt’s soft guitar taps to loud hits with resonating strings in 2. Ubiquitous Drum Circle. Slow meditative sounds in 3. Under Deep Water (after Satie). Claire Puckett’s Lantern is intense yet calming. Short soft single note sections alternate with melody, silences and colourful chords.

These four stylistically diverse works are just as stellar without the visuals. Performed with inspirational musicality and technique by Hurt, the musical charm increases with each subsequent listen.

Farahser
John Kameel Farah; Nick Fraser
Elastic Recordings ER010 (elasticrecordings.com/farahser)

In this collection of musical dialogues between two virtuosic and creative musicians, Nick Fraser and John Kameel Farah provide some answers to Fraser’s question: “Where does improvisation end and composition start?” The opening track’s ambiguous opening sequence is like a musical voicing of the question; Fraser and Farah answer it with inventive exchanges that explore their shared, diverse musical influences.

Based in Toronto, Fraser is a Juno-winning drummer known for stylistic breadth and progressive playing, earning him respect in the international improvised music community and a key role in Canada’s new jazz scene. Farah is a Canadian composer and pianist living in Berlin whose adventurous improvisatory performances include keyboards and electronics, incorporating aspects of baroque and early music, contemporary classical, jazz and modal melodies evoking his Palestinian heritage.

Fraser suggested the collaboration when the pair reconnected 20 years after their first meeting. They started in the studio with 26 improvised duets; from this raw material, they selected some ideas or approaches which became the eight tracks on the album. The ambient mood of the opening track, Flatland, gives way to different energies such as a sequence featuring Farah’s trademark sinewy melodies in Insect Mountain. Dirge featuresa hypnotic walking bass over which unfolds beguiling melodies, all interrupted by a flurry of activity from drums and synths. The closing track, Elevator, showcases Farah’s pianistic prowess with rippling upward motifs, while Fraser gives us a masterclass in brushwork. 

Even listeners who might be hesitant about experimental improvisation will find things to delight them on this album. Recommended!

Traces
Will Régnier
Independent (willregnier.com)

Will Régnier is a Montreal drummer, composer and producer who has played in progressive rock and jazz bands over the past 15 years while finishing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz performance and composition. Traces is his first album and reveals a calm sophistication, infused with catchy riffs and melodies, with some edgy fusion thrown in for spice. 

The title track demonstrates Regnier’s diverse influences, beginning with a folk-rock arpeggiated guitar intro which then moves into a solid piano melody (doubled with guitar), then some counterpoint between drums and bass; midway through Marcus Lowry performs a beautiful guitar solo with classical undertones. Lights Out opens with a delicately funky bass line and then a subtly distorted and complex guitar melody. Throughout the album there are multiple examples of sophisticated interplay between piano and guitar. The pieces in Traces move effortlessly across styles aided by the accomplished and inspired playing of Régnier, Lowry, Yannick Anctil (piano) and Alex Le Blanc (double bass). Each song mixes composed and improvised sections which showcase evolving narratives. Traces is an excellent debut album and is always compelling.

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Bien ensemble
Mimosa
Cellar Music CMF060623 (mimosamusic.bandcamp.com/album/bien-ensemble)

French/English Vancouver-based jazz quintet Mimosa is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a band in 2024. Their fourth release, Bien ensemble (Good Together) is self-described as being “about connection through friendship and music.” Mimosa’s members’ different backgrounds, personalities and languages inspire unique music from each other, along with jazz, Brazilian sambas, French 60s pop and Cabaret music influences. Mimosa is Rebecca Shoichet (vocals, accordion), Anna Lumière (piano, accordion, Fender Rhodes, organ, Moog, vocals), Karen Graves (sax, flute, vocals), Conrad Good (bass) and Bernie Arai (drums). Special guests here are Heather Anderson (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Susana Williams (percussion).

Lumière composes most of Mimosa’s music. She also collaborates with band members like title track Bien ensemble with Shoichet. Calm opening jazz piano and French vocals develop into faster colourful instrumental solos above a snappy drum backdrop. English vocals return to slower closing. Lumière’s High in the Sky is classic instrumental jazz with quasi backdrop English vocals. Tight ensemble supports many instrumental solos, especially the outstanding trumpet solo. Mimosa’s Graves sings Birds at 4 am, her English composition co-written with B. Murphy. Slow depressing lack of sleep storytelling with piano/drums backdrops to hopeful decrescendo cymbals and piano ending. Guests Anderson and Williams join Mimosa in the closing Lumière track Trouble. The sax solo followed by a subtle accordion solo adds colour and then loud piano chords. Love everyone singing at the ending!  

This release achieves its celebratory purpose as musicians, vocalists, composers along with excellent production, create perfect music!

Accolades of Time
Ruth Saphir
Orchard of Pomegranates (ruthsaphir.com)

With lyrics that poignantly reflect on identity and relationships as they transcend the passage of time, an expressive band that fits this elegant thematic tapestry and a consistently goosebump-inducing vocal performance from Ruth Saphir, Ancestral Shadows is a musical odyssey that feels immensely rewarding with each listen. 

Revolving around the central quartet consisting of Ruth Saphir (voice, flute), Kate Wyatt (piano), Adrian Vedady (bass) and Mili Hong (drums), it truly feels like each musician’s contributions are valued and paced perfectly throughout the album. The incredible one-two punch of Where Do Dreams Go? and Hand-Me-Down-Clothes feature Vedady’s bass as the most prominent instrument in the mix, with the warm breadth of his tone and tasteful nature of his bass lines making every pause in the melody feel full of vitality. This careful, concerted dance between ensemble and songwriter continues in magical moments such as the gradual foray into double time following the effortlessly graceful way Saphir stretches the phrase “I know you wanted to” during Lost at Sea, a swinging number if there ever was one. When we’re in the flow I feel the undertow intrude feels directly addressed to a rhythm section that sits so on top of every beat it practically anticipates it, yet invokes feeling in a very unsuppressed manner.

 Autobiographical in one instant and familiar in the next, this music makes for a truly ecstatic listening experience.

Moon Over Lake
Roddy Ellias
KWIMU Music KW-007 (roddyellias.bandcamp.com/album/moon-over-lake)

When inevitably transfixed and immersed in the sheer lushness that emanates from Roddy Ellias’ guitar, it is easy to forget you’re listening to a collection of songs, rather than one self-contained piece. When faced with such a dizzying array of odd pulses, phrases without clean endings, and several texturally rich sections where Ellias sounds like he has cloned himself, there can arise a temptation to overanalyze, attempting to grasp a firm hold of all that feels increasingly less tangible. To give into these urges keeps the listener at a distance, which stands at odds to the vulnerability of Ellias’ creative endeavour. 

Short, imagery-laden track titles complement the spacious, meditative feeling of listening to multiple voices interacting within one instrument, punctuated by the occasional audible breath (such as the one in Flower) and chord that reverberates through a physical space. Hope deals in resonances, finding hidden melodies within its chordal elements while allowing the inner voices to color much of the mood, each sustained tone lingering as if to convey a sense of yearning. Chant rides an intricate groove through its entire runtime without belabouring it, but always implying it through blissful syncopated runs and occasionally reintroducing its titular refrain in fragments before the triumphant outro. 

Nary a composition here overstays its welcome – the overall listen is quite brisk – but they are all intricate parts of a fulfilling, harmonious whole.

Wintertides
Sam Wilson
Studio 204 (samwilsonmusiq.bandcamp.com)

The state of the Canadian guitar in the key of jazz has never been in such good shape as it is today. You only have to consider the contributions to jazz literature made by such masters as  Ray Norris,Diz Disley, Ed Bickert,Lorne Lofsky, Nelson Symonds, Lenny Breau, Oliver Gannon, Sonny Greenwich, and from Bill Coon to Reg Schwager and Jocelyn Gould. You could fill an entire library of jazz music with those names alone.

To that roster you would have to add the name of Sam Wilson. The young east coast composer and virtuoso instrumentalist displays skill and mature judgement in the performance of her original works. She puts on an exquisite musical display on her fourth recording Wintertides, a homage to the landscapes of the two disparate coastlines of Canada. 

Weaving ornate tapestries featuring wonderfully colour-laden notes and phrases Wilson – together with bassist Gordie Hart and drummer Jen Yakamovich – offer subtle, often striking, interpretations of Wilson’s superbly-crafted and affecting miniatures.  

Despite meditating on the single theme of relocating “bi-coastal” landscapes to a canvas of soundscapes the settings of each of the ten works couldn’t be more different. Melodic lines are eloquently ornamented. Slowly unfolding harmonies are stimulating, heightening the impressive, sweeping canvases from earth to sky. Dancing urgency of rhythms dapple the music as if adding curved brushstrokes to these musical canvases. The Moon Song and Wintertides are masterpieces.

Tidal Currents: East Meets West
Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra
Chronograph Records CR-109 (winnipegjazzorchestra.com/cd-details---tidal-currents--east-meets-west)

Tidal Currents: East Meets West is the latest offering from the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. It’s the seventh release by this ensemble, and fits beautifully into their catalogue without sounding derivative or too similar to their previous recordings. Composers Jill Townsend and Christine Jensen provide the repertoire, based on themes from their respective upbringings on the East and West coasts of Canada. United in the landlocked geographical center of the country, the WJO gives a slick and polished performance of pieces by both composers, featuring soloists from the group as well as Jensen on soprano saxophone. 

“Short but sweet” is the best way to describe Tidal Currents, at a runtime of just under 30 minutes. If the group had decided to add an additional track or two, they would not be unwelcomed, but after several listens through the album in its entirety, I’m not left feeling owed anything either. We have gone from an era of 70-plus minute CDs to one focused more around singles and EPs. Whether this programming choice was deliberate or not, Tidal Currents might just be the perfect length to satiate the modern attention span. 

It is an impressive feat that the album’s four tracks alternate composers while still functioning together as a suite. This is a testament to both the ensemble playing, and visions of the composers. There is unity throughout an organic set of music, but ample contrast to keep listeners engaged. Albums may be getting shorter, but this means us listeners have no excuse not to digest statements like Tidal Currents in their entirety as intended.

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Horns of Hope
Aimee-Jo Benoit; The New Assembly
Chronograph Records (chronographrecords.com/releases/horns-of-hope)

Calgary-based jazz vocalist/composer, Aimee-Jo Benoit has just released her sophomore recording – a compelling, highly creative collection of music that is a joyous celebration of some of her most seminal influences including songs from Canadian luminaries kd lang, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Daniel Lanois and Sarah Harmer. Benoit’s voice is a warm, rich, sonorous instrument – and like a fine violin, and through her masterful communication skills, she is capable of transporting the listener to any emotional plateau desired. Joining Benoit on this exceptional recording are a fine Calgary-based ensemble, including arranger Carsten Rubeling on trombone, Mark De Jong on tenor saxophone and trombone, Andre Wickenheiser on trumpet and a tight rhythm section comprised of bassist Jon Wielebknowski, keyboardist Augustine Yates and drummer Dan Gaucher.

The eight-track programme (including one original from Benoit) kicks off with Barefoot, filled with powerful horn lines, dynamic rhythms and a pitch-pure, velvet-like vocal, which wraps itself around every part of lang’s lyrical poetry, and Rubeling’s innovative and stirring horn-infused arrangement is nothing short of magnificent. A dynamic solo from Wickenheiser is a highlight, as well as the stripped-down coda. 

Other delights include a refreshing take on Mitchell’s Little Green, infusing the tune with jazz elements that would delight Mitchell. Goucher’s gorgeous bass work holds this beautiful tune lovingly in his hands. Harmer’s notable You Were Here is presented in the stark resonance of De Jong on baritone, eventually joined by the full ensemble. Benoit sails through and above everything – gracing all with a brush of the wings of her magnificent voice, her skills and her taste.

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Fatrasies
François Houle; Kate Gentile; Alexander Hawkins
Victo cd 137 (victo.qc.ca)

Three masters of the improv craft from three different countries confirm not only creative music’s universality but also how so-called abstract music can be as definitive as any other. Each of the five instant compositions blend American Kate Gentile’s restrained drum pops and rumbles, the UK’s Alexander Hawkins’ refractive pianism ranging from meditative to mauling and Canadian François Houle’s output from two clarinets and electronics that encompasses textures ranging from hissing trills to bagpipe-like drones.

Used sparingly to amplify tones, electronics underline Houle’s versatility since by playing both clarinets at once or dismantling them for extra timbres he produces distinctive sounds from the near opaque to free-flowing. Not to be outdone, Hawkins creates immediate responses to either player’s musical thrusts. For instance on La petite bête he doubles his speed to intersect with the clarinetist’s rappelling up the scale. On Tart ara mon cueur, as blowsy basset clarinet tones widen and intensify, the pianist moves from gentle clinks to splayed percussive pedal action. Gentile responds quickly as well and hard thumps plus cymbal colours join the piano patterns to properly frame Houle’s dual clarinet output so that it becomes moderate and linear.

There are numerous instances of the interaction flowing the other way such as electronic whizzes meeting piledriver piano runs or hollow-sounding reed flutters extending an a capella piano introduction.  The (so-far) shared democratic heritage of these countries could serve as a metaphor for how well these three interact.

Crayonnage
Brûlez les meubles
Tour de bras/Cicrum Disc 900070cd/microcidi 035 (tourdebras.com/album/crayonnage)

Proof that quiet improvising can be as compelling as faster, louder music comes from this Québecois quartet. Based around the harmonies and broken-chord narratives of guitarist Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonnière and electric bassist Éric Normand, Jonathan Huard’s vibraphone pings further embellish the 12 tunes while drummer Tom Jacques’ whaps and slaps keep the pieces fluidly linear.

Reflective and relaxed are the adjectives applied to most tracks as guitar strings soar, echo and frail, matched in lockstep by bass strokes. Nonetheless calm shouldn’t be confused with casualness. Tunes like sous les assauts du soleil reveal the drama and emotion that goes into such systematic strategy. Ringing guitar/bass chords showcase and then relax the pressure that initially creates this mixture of light and dark tones. Regardless, it’s the brief empattement which fully defines the entire band’s sympathetic connection. While initial guitar twangs and thumping bass responses suggest the group is heading towards Metal, Jacques’ use of mid-range clips not backbeats confirms the quartet’s creative non rock music stance.

The concluding extended group improv estompes substantiates this. Atmospheric and expressive, Normand’s use of electronics for backing rustles and a looped pulse allows Beaudoin-de la Sablonnière to add a sitar-like echo and ratcheting frails to his tone variations, as the vibist and drummer speed up the backing with temperate textures that are decorative without being delicate. 

The moderation expressed on Crayonnage may draw in and be a pleasant surprise for those who eschew improv.

Accidentals
Don Fiorino; Andrew Haas
Independent (american-nocturne.bandcamp.com/album/accidentals)

Don Fiorino (guitar, glissentar, lap steel, bass, banjo, lotar, mandolin and more) has collaborated for over two decades with Andrew Haas (saxophone) and Accidentals is their third album. Each of the relatively short pieces is a freeform investigation of experimental sound collaborations. Talismanic has percussion (could be a pot banging) with a stringed instrument (could be a bass or low tuned guitar) and the saxophone uses mostly the altisimo range. But it really grooves and its trance-like determination drags you along. Phat Flutter contains a lot of fluttering saxophone sounds with a few multiphonics thrown in over percussive strings. 

All the pieces successfully create unique universes in their short durations and also include humour. They seem to be implying: life is short so push the envelope. Obscure fact: Haas, who spends most of the album using only extended techniques, is the same saxophone player who can be heard on the 80s hit Echo Beach (by Toronto’s Martha and the Muffins). He has expanded his playing in amazing ways over those decades. Fiorino comes up with a truckload of sounds from a wide assortment of stringed instruments and constantly provides esoteric but infectious grooves. Accidentals is inventive, fascinating and very deliberate.

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