From Dusk Till Dawn
Dobrochna Zubek; Caitlin Boyle
Redshift Records TK 570 (redshiftmusicsociety.bandcamp.com/album/from-dusk-till-dawn)

Hamilton-based violist Caitlin Boyle and Toronto-based cellist Dobrochna Zubek collaborate in 13 short pieces, most of them composed for this pairing of instruments.

Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) was herself a virtuoso violist; her Viola Sonata ranks among today’s most-often performed, alongside the two by Brahms. Her Two Pieces, Lullaby and Grotesque, are respectively dreamy and mischievously brusque.

Before joining the modernist avant-garde, Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) drew inspiration from traditional Polish folk melodies and dances, as heard in the five miniature pieces that make up his Bucolics for piano, here arranged by Boyle and Zubek. The fourth, a soulful, songful Andantino, is especially lovely.

The engaging pizzicato-dominated Limestone & Felt by American Caroline Shaw (b.1982) begins with unpredictable dancing syncopations before shifting to sustained, slow, pensive pulsations. (The title, writes Shaw, refers to hard and soft surfaces.)

In the duo’s arrangement, Song of Ophelia from Seven Verses of Alexander Blok, Op.127 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), originally written for soprano Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, retains its haunting sense of sorrowful plaintiveness.

The Break of Dawn by the cellist’s father, Andrzej Zubek (b.1948), progresses gradually from darkness to light, encountering subtle touches of Gershwin and Viennese waltz along the way.

A moody Prelude, sprightly Gavotte and warm-hearted Berceuse from Eight Pieces, Op.39 by Reinhold Glière (1875-1956) end this entertaining disc. Lasting only 33 minutes, the CD left me wanting much more entertainment from this very talented pair of musicians.

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Thomas Adès – The Exterminating Angel Symphony; Violin Concerto
Leila Josefowicz; Minnesota Orchestra; Thomas Sondergard
Pentatone PCT 5187 487 (pentatonemusic.com/product/ades-the-exterminating-angel-symphony-violin-concerto)

Thomas Adès has had one of the more successful compositional careers in England for at least 25 years now, with compositions in all forms, including three operas. He has written many orchestral pieces in unconventional forms, and his style seems unpredictable, but always holds the attention with surprising musical gambits and constantly spectacular and very personal orchestration.

The Violin Concerto from 2005 has now been recorded at least three times, including an out-of-print EMI disc by violinist Anthony Marwood with the composer at the podium. This latest production, featuring the high-octane Canadian-born Leila Josephowicz accompanied by the under recorded Minnesota Orchestra with their new chef Thomas Søndergård, offers the most  compelling treatment. Slightly faster, this performance fulfills the stratospheric demands of the score which are handled with quicksilver dexterity and a deft expertise by both soloist and orchestra.

The main work here is the debut recording of the symphony Adès has extracted from his last, phantasmagorical opera, commissioned by the Met: The Exterminating Angel inspired by the eponymous surrealist film by Louis Buñuel. This symphony provides a sampling of some of the tumultuous music from the opera. The first two movements are derived from the restless orchestral background score which evades and overwhelms the listener. The last movement ends up as an almost wild waltz. The orchestral performance and recording here are focussed and very clear in the orchestra’s famous unobtrusive acoustic. This enterprising, very successful disc heralds Pentatone’s arrival to record this group and their new conductor in the cleanest most direct sound. May they continue with the enterprising repertoire.

Prophecy: Tüür; Korvits; Vasks
Ksenija Sidorova; Estonian Festival Orchestra; Paavo Järvi
Alpha Classics ALPHA1198 (outhere-music.com/en/albums/prophecy)

Prophecy, performed by renowned Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi and his Estonian Festival Orchestra comprised of his handpicked musicians, and Latvian solo accordion superstar Ksenija Sidorova, who has collaborated with Järvi for over ten years, pays tribute to Baltic Estonian and Latvian music.

Prophecy (2007) by Erkki-Sven Tüür for accordion and orchestra, a work in four movements played without pauses, explores the concept of the Seer, a person who can see the future but is often despised by the society in which they live. The opening has the orchestral holding slow soft notes and building in volume, then soft again,  blending with Sidorova’s virtuosic accordion playing. An accordion bellows shake creates dramatic rhythmic sense with loud orchestra playing.

Tõnu Kõrvits’ four movement Dances (2024) opens with I. Darkness containing quiet held notes on the accordion to short silence to contemporary dance flavoured full orchestral crescendo and upfront accordion. Closing full “band” decrescendo to soft accordion is breathtaking. II.Passacaglia is serious with big volume changes. Accessible sounds in III.Siciliana. Closing IV. Sarabande is loud with orchestra, percussion and accordion rhythmic lines to unexpected accented closing. Pēteris Vasks’ The Fruit of Silence (2007), inspired by a prayer by Mother Teresa, is arranged by George Morton for accordion, vibraphone and string orchestra. Sidorova’s beautiful musical high single note melody followed by vibraphone solo, and orchestral and accordion accompaniments are mellow, calming and reassuring. These two works were performed live in Toronto with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Järvi and Sidorova October 31 through November 2, 2025.

Järvi’s passionate conducting draws out tight orchestral and accordion performances in this clearly recorded release with contrasting blasting and subtle sounds. Hästi tehtud -- well done!

Arid Landscapes
Noah Franche-Nolan; Dan Pitt
Signal Chain Records SC001 (aridlandscapes.bandcamp.com/album/arid-landscapes)

As a fan of Toronto jazz guitarist Dan Pitt’s minimalist solo album Monochrome: Songs For Travel, I was richly rewarded by his new duo’s debut album Arid Landscapes with Vancouver pianist Noah Franche-Nolan. Ten tracks of deep explorations into expressive treatments of both instruments unfurl delicate nuances of artistry; the resulting partnership is so immersive I found myself at times forgetting I was listening. It’s not clear how much of the music is written vs improvised (my hunch is a lot of both). As with many creative partnerships during the COVID era the pair began by exchanging recordings online before meeting up in person, adding electronics both live and in post-production. The resulting project is a warm and enveloping creative journal leaning at times toward textural soundscapes, blossoming into a beautifully sparkling album I could not put down. 

I love the pairing of acoustic piano and guitar delays in the fantastical explorations of RTMK. Weathered could be a soundtrack for a moon-landing, feeling spontaneous yet grounded in harmonic notes and textures of the guitar’s reverse delays with acoustic piano. Summerhill‘s supremely subtle shifts in tones might be my favourite track of the album, along with the shimmering closer The Optimist. 

I’m inspired by players who have so much trust in each’s skill and alignment that it shows in their patience in each other, giving time for the development and refining of each idea. This was beautifully supported by the mastering by François Houle, keeping the authenticity of the duo’s intertwining electroacoustic rhythms and acoustic explorations perfectly balanced while ensuring the buoyancy and liveliness of this new project is clean and fresh.

Caity Gyorgy With Strings
Caity Gyorgy; various artists
La Reserve Records (caitygyorgy.bandcamp.com/album/caity-gyorgy-with-strings-arranged-and-conducted-by-mark-limacher)

Back in the heyday of popular singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole it was standard practice for record labels to release albums for their artists every year or even multiple times a year. (Fun fact: Doris Day recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.) And these weren’t thrown together bare bones records – they were fully orchestrated and replete with horns, woodwinds and strings. Caity Gyorgy is throwing back to that time with this latest release (her sixth in about as many years) and she references that era in her liner notes, saying how labels used to “crank ‘em out.” 

But this sounds like anything but a rushed job, with its beautiful production and full orchestra on each track. All ten songs are original and penned by Gyorgy and Mark Limacher or by Gyorgy alone. Most of the songs clock in around the three-minute mark, and there’s no soloing to speak of, and that all adds to the nostalgic feel of the album and puts it more in the crooner category than jazz. Limacher’s gorgeous arrangements give the record a generally upbeat tone, despite some quite poignant lyrics from Gyorgy, and on several of the tunes the orchestrations really take centre stage. 

Standout tracks for me are Gyorgy’s own Next Time and There Goes, and the collaboration That Doesn’t Matter where the melody is the star and the arrangements complement and support it. Overall, this record is quite an accomplishment and Gyorgy and Limacher should be very proud. Bonus: the cocktail recipes included in the liner notes are a lot of fun!

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Murmurations
Kate Wyatt Trio
Independent (katewyatt.bandcamp.com/album/murmurations)

It’s truly beautiful when you can almost hear an artist’s thoughts unfolding within their compositions. Pianist and composer Kate Wyatt’s latest release takes influence from nature, specifically the murmuration of starlings, an elaborate, unifying behaviour. It unfolds like a living organism, constantly shifting shape while maintaining an inner logic. 

The album captures the beauty of collective motion – ideas circling, separating, and reconvening – without ever losing its sense of purpose. All pieces are penned by the members of the trio; Wyatt, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Louis-Vincent Hamel. 

Central to the album are Wyatt’s piano melodies, agile and conversational. She lets the phrases breathe and take on a life of their own. Vedady and Hamel round out the compositions perfectly, encouraging the music to soar to new heights. Instead of spotlighting virtuosity for its own sake, the record emphasizes interaction. 

Coming back to the concept of murmuration, the music has a communal feel to it, shaped by trust and a shared curiosity. The trio feels as if it’s truly breathing as one being, ebbing and flowing as nature does, progressing through the pieces together. Sonically, a satisfying balance between warmth and clarity is achieved, with each note and nuance crystal clear, bringing the emotion and feeling within the music to the forefront. 

Murmurations is thoughtful, elegant, and quietly adventurous, reflecting a mature artistic voice confident enough to let the music evolve naturally, on its own terms, with utmost grace.

Haunted Melody
Peter Campbell; Various artists (including Kevin Turcotte; Bill McBirnie; Adrean Farrugia et al)
Independent (petercampbellmusic.com/music)

A good album is characterized by many different elements, one of them being when it manages to transport us into the mind and deepest feelings of the musician. American Canadian vocalist and producer Peter Campbell’s fourth release is just that – an emotionally charged musical journey where all is bared to the listener. Built on introspection rather than spectacle, the record feels intimate and deliberately restrained, inviting the listener into a quiet, vulnerable space. It lingers long after the final note fades, like the echo of a song drifting down an empty hallway. 

Campbell has been influenced by Brazilian and Portuguese music on this album which featurest three pieces by Brazilian composers. This influence is especially prevalent in a tune like Lost in a Summer Night, where a soft, reverberant guitar melody is layered over bossa nova rhythms and keyboards shimmering faintly in the background. The arrangements throughout the record leave plenty of breathing room for the music and emotions to play out in their own ways, nothing feels rushed. One of the most satisfying aspects is the amount of warmth and space that are present, perfectly conveyed by Campbell’s emotionally direct, beautiful vocals, adding just the right amount of reflection to the tunes. 

This album is for late nights, quiet rooms and listeners willing to listen beginning to end. In embracing subtlety and sincerity, Campbell delivers a haunting, thoughtful work that resonates precisely because it refuses to shout.

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Grant Stewart – Next Spring
Grant Stewart; Tardo Hammer; Paul Sikivie; Phil Stewart
Cellar Music CMF110223 (grantstewartjazz.bandcamp.com/album/next-spring)

Toronto-born, New York City based Grant Stewart is a masterful tenor saxophonist, composer and producer. Additionally, he is the Director of the revolutionary and free-thinking Tribeca Jazz Institute. With over 20 CDs to his credit, this is Stewart’s fifth album for Cory Weeds and his impressive Cellar Live label. This well conceived project was beautifully recorded at the iconic and legendary Van Gelder Studios. Stewart’s collaborators here are three of the most refreshing and creative jazz artists on the scene today – pianist Tardo Hammer, bassist Paul Sikivie and (brother) Phil Stewart on drums.

The intriguing material on the recording includes rarely performed jazz standards, as well as five original compositions. Stewart was a student of the late, great Barry Harris, and although bop and post bop modalities are wonderfully present in Stewart’s writing and soloing, this is a cutting edge, technically thrilling, contemporary jazz album – rife with emotional depth and totally devoid of any over-trodden licks or trite modalities. 

First up is Next Spring by Marvin Jenkins. Stewart’s rich, warm tenor sound is a delight, and the quartet is tight. Hammer takes a dynamic solo here, not only displaying his technical chops, but also his superb choices and lush harmonic ideas. Sikivie and tasty, skilled drummer Stewart are deeply locked in, the bass solo fluid and facile. Wayne Shorter’s immortal, Nefartiti is also stirring, with the ensemble donning a sensual, languid and deeply swinging motif. 

A stand-out of this thoughtful programme is Harris’ composition, Father Flanagan, which was written in tribute to genius jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan. Stewart’s sonorous tenor sound, and the depth of sensitivity of the players here is stunning. This inspired recording is nothing short of a master class in the art of the jazz quartet. Every note has been created with skill, creative intention and taste.

Curtains of Light
Whitney Ross-Barris; various artists
Independent (whitneyrb.bandcamp.com/album/curtains-of-light)

Jazz vocalist, pianist and composer, Whitney Ross-Barris’ latest recording is a triumph of musical genre-blending and considerable artistic spelunking into the emotional depths of the things that make us human – including our innate ability to re-emerge into life following adversity through love, connection, creativity and community. A stellar cast was assembled for this project, including Amy Peck on saxophones, Rebecca Hennessy on trumpet, Drew Jurecka on violin and viola, Kevin Fox on cello, co-producer Michael Shand on keyboards/guitar, Eric St. Laurent on guitar, Lauren Falls on bass and Ben Wittman on drums/percussion. All 13 compelling tracks were composed by Ross-Barris and arranged by Shand and Jurecka. 

Every offering here is like a meticulously fashioned rare gem, but some clear highlights include the uplifting opener Bourgeois Reverie. Presented with a tasty horn arrangement, this song was inspired by punitive pandemic restrictions and is a reflective idyll on the little niceties of life and the personal connections that we were denied. An engaging and soulful blues, Up in the Night is a masterpiece of Ross-Barris’ technical skill, style, grace and understated elegance, supported by Shand’s B3 as well as supple, and pure backing vocals from Alex Samaras, Gavin Hope, Miku Graham, Mary van den Enden and Yvette Tollar. 

Other stand-outs on this unique and delightful recording include the breath-taking, a cappella Sunrise that boasts a superb vocal arrangement by Ross-Barris which seamlessly segues into There You Are, on which Jurecka’s inspired string arrangements are a thing of special, luminous beauty. The closing title track is another stunning ballad, fully realized with sumptuous strings, superb rhythm section and ensemble work, as well as superb and evocative vocals from Ross-Barris.

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Heart’s Pace
Joshua Rager Quartet
Bent River Records BRR-202503CD (joshrager.bandcamp.com/album/hearts-pace)

It’s a mark of excellence when a recording with a guest artist achieves the band dynamic of a group that’s been together for decades. Montreal based pianist Josh Rager, bassist Alec Walkington, and drummer Rich Irwin, certainly have this lineage. The aforementioned guest is New York guitarist Peter Bernstein. 

Heart’s Pace doesn’t go out of its way to sound cutting edge, but it also resists any nostalgic trappings of neo-traditional jazz. This aesthetic makes Bernstein a perfect guest, as he has a grounded “old school” sensibility that he brings to 21st century playing. Rager arranged standards like I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face and Henry Mancini’s Dreamsville in an original way, and his original compositions hold their own alongside these classics.  

The quartet is captured beautifully at Montreal’s legendary Studio Pierre Marchand, a space revered by local and visiting musicians alike. The sounds are crisp without being sterile, which serves to further elevate and highlight the musicians’ individual artistry. I seldom pick “favourite” tracks when reviewing, but Fathers and Sons encapsulates a lot of what’s great about Heart’s Pace to me. There is complex moving harmony, brilliantly navigated in solos by Bernstein and Rager, placed atop a rock-solid swing feel from Walkington and Irwin.  

Occasionally I’d like to hear a take with longer solos by the band, but that’s a common paradox when recording improvisatory music. If anything, that’s just further impetus to hear these great musicians live, and in the meantime, give Heart’s Pace a listen!

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Words Underlined
Patrick Smith; Lowell Whitty; Dan Pitt
Lit Soc Records 001 (litsocrecords.bandcamp.com/album/words-underlined)

Saxophonist Patrick Smith has been a mainstay on the Toronto music scene for several years, carving out a creative and sustainable niche for himself. Words Underlined isn’t commercial or “mainstream,” but Smith is a consummate professional in those worlds, influencing his more adventurous creative playing in a positive way.  

Toronto is full of great musicians, but an easy place to get pigeon-holed. Some “creative” players lack a visceral approach gleaned through commercial work, while many commercial players prioritize a well pressed suit over the ability to improvise. Toronto’s historically successful and respected players (Doug Riley and Moe Koffman come to mind) straddled that fine line, and I think Smith is carrying that torch in his own way.  

Words Underlined features Dan Pitt on electric guitar and Lowell Whitty on drums. This bass-less format brings to mind drummer Paul Motian’s trio, but influenced or not, Smith’s Words Trio sounds unique. Pitt uses guitar effects in a tasteful way, never over-saturating his sound. Whitty contributes ample groove and embraces sparser moments too. Tracks like Hazel and As Years Go By utilize the intimate nature of the trio format, while parts of Banff demonstrate you don’t need a bassist to rock out.  

A versatile group needs a versatile venue, and Sellers and Newel was the perfect place to bring this music to life. I look forward to hearing what’s next from the Words Trio and fledgling Lit Soc Records!

Standard Elegance
Bill Coon
Cellar Music CMF121225 (billcoon.bandcamp.com/album/standard-elegance)

Bill Coon is a Vancouver based jazz guitarist and composer with an over 30-year history playing with many well-known jazz artists including Jimmy Heath, Sheila Jordan, Bucky Pizzarelli and Hugh Fraser. He has also performed on more than 50 recordings and has won “Guitarist of the Year” from the National Jazz Awards. Coon has written works for orchestras from the National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Norwegian Radio and Jill Townsend, as well as big bands and small jazz ensembles. 

Coon’s multifaceted activities serve in contrast to Standard Elegance, an exquisite album of jazz classics played on solo guitar. These 13 standards are treated warmly and introspectively by Coon on electric archtop and nylon string guitars. All the Things You Are shows off Coon’s beautiful chord melody skills and he also throws in some contrapuntal lines to contrast with the melody. The Nearness of You begins with some harmonics and sparingly harmonized melody and then slowly progresses through some beautifully arpeggiated chords before ending with the same harmonics. Here’s That Rainy Day has some delightful combinations of arpeggiated chords with just a hint of some bossa nova rhythms. 

Standard Elegance is both relaxing and engaging. It is a pleasure to listen to a fine musician displaying his craft.

Northbound to Finch
Maria Kaushansky; Paul Gill; Anthony Pinciotti
flat 6th records FS-1001 (mariakaushansky.com)

This is New York City-based jazz pianist Maria Kaushansky’s debut album. She was born in Russia, and her family emigrated to Israel. In the early 1990s they moved to Toronto when she was a young girl, where she grew up and went to university. All compositions are by Kaushansky here with nine main tracks and six alternate takes, each being her musical reflection and tribute to growing up in Toronto. She is joined by New Yorkers Paul Gill on bass, and the late Anthony Pinciotti on drums.

Opening title track Northbound to Finch is inspired by the Toronto Transit Commission’s Finch subway station, which was Kaushansky’s home stop. An opening loud repeated piano melody is supported by bass and drums. Happy ”almost home” jazz flavoured piano lines followed by louder sounds from the rhythm section. Sudden soft and slow tight playing is followed by solo piano to silence, like the station stop. Windchill -30, Kaushansky’s music about Toronto winters is so interesting. The solo “low temperature” bass start, then faster with drums, descending bass line like falling down, and piano “shivering” trills express Toronto’s extreme winter temperatures. 

Tight trio performances and beautiful creative playing paint a sonic portrait of Toronto. Each listener will have their own story based on listening to the tracks, whether or not you are from or live in Toronto. 

Kaushansky has also released a companion album, Northbound to Finch: Music for Ballet Class which has the compositions here adapted for ballet exercises.

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hORs TempS
Geraldine Eguiluz; Michel F. Côté
ambiences magnetiques am284 (actuellecd.com/fr/album/6813-hors-temps)

Reversed tape loops, strummed micro gestures and percussive elements sourced from increasingly esoteric places encircle something less akin to a pulse than some greater subtextual unifying logic. The source of these seemingly endless subtle sonic events – be it primary or found – does not grab you as much as the question of their seamless coexistence. 

This is music that journeyed quite a ways to get here; somehow all that you are hearing is born from the early 1990s when Géraldine Eguiluz was in Paris, and recorded some sounds on cassettes. Returning to one’s work after a prolonged span of time can perhaps come with an inherent freshness  and Eguiluz warped, molded, deconstructed, recontextualized and eroded the sounds on these tapes through collage which is another category of introspective creation. Take Territoires perdus #3 for instance, where from a handful of vocal tracks stem harmonies that feel like they are only attained through this medium, as sustained breathy backgrounds envelop heavily edited streams of gibberish, creating a unique atmosphere of uncanniness and one of the many inscrutably hyper specific feelings achieved throughout this project. 

Adding Michel F. Côté ostensibly adds an entire additional process to the creative mix, as he is another universe in himself with all the audial information he is able to generate through countless means. Around track five, the “how” becomes less enthralling than the “what.”

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Music is Life
Joe Bowden
Independent (theurbanyoda.com)

Delightfully infectious fusion outing from Joe Bowden’s ludicrously stacked band, every track demands repeated listening, just by virtue of how catchy the grooves are, how expertly mixed the elements are, and how every solo is a standout. An incredible midpoint has been found between dazzlingly complex metrical wizardry and fundamentally bouncy accessible songcraft, a breath of fresh air to say the least. This is music that works in the foreground, works in the background (the blissful Spacing Out is aptly named), works at work and works when one is feeling overanalytical. 

It could be said the band operates in two different capacities throughout the album: one being the Rich Brown iteration and one being the Mike Downes iteration. This is a little reductive, as other variables are not beholden to which bass player is present, but there is a welcome shift in sonic identity every time one swaps in for the other. Bowden’s drums are always driving and propelling proceedings forth, but how the elements of the kit synergize with Brown’s electric and Downes’ acoustic playing is a subtle difference that makes a world of difference when it comes to the expressive depth of this project. Not so coincidentally, both bassists have absolutely showstopping solos at various points. Other key members include Warren Wolf (vibraphone) and Manuel Valera (piano). Overall, this is a band that allows the nuances in the music to speak the loudest. Plenty of rewinding, head-shaking and exclamations of “how did they…” will ensue.