Canadiana
Canadian Brass
Linus Entertainment 270596 (linusentertainment.com)

One of the most iconic instrumental ensembles in Canada has just released its tribute to fellow Canadian musical icons, Canadiana. Given the theme, it’s unsurprising that the covers should include Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Cockburn. What is surprising – and entertaining – is the presence of songs by Drake, Shawn Mendes and even EDM artist, Deadmau5.

Although the Canadian Brass is an incredibly prolific ensemble, having released 137 recordings since its inception in 1970, there’s been a hiatus of several years since their previous CD. The driving force behind Canadiana is trumpeter Brandon Ridenour who first joined the Brass when he was just 20 years old. He moved on to other projects and a successful solo career before returning in 2019 and conceiving, co-producing and writing all the arrangements for this project. Recorded during the pandemic, with the musicians working individually in their home studios, the album is a marvel of engineering and mastering.

Canadiana fittingly opens with Je Me Souviens, the song by Lara Fabian which became a Quebec anthem of sorts, and the mix of melancholy and triumph of the original are captured here. The standout tracks for me are the surprisingly gorgeous Deadmau5 song I Remember (I’ll take tuba over a drum track any day), the playful Best Part by Daniel Caesar (the young R&B singer-songwriter is being hailed as the Next Big Canadian Thing) and Rush’s Overture 2112, which is a complete gas. This version of Shawn Mendes’s hit Senorita just makes me wish piccolo trumpet was used all the time in pop music. Although additional instruments like percussion and electric guitar were enlisted to beef up the brass on a few of the tracks, the closing tribute to Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah, relies sparingly and beautifully on just brass.

Libre
Jesse Cook
Coach House Music (jessecook.com)

Uprooted
Matt Sellick and friends
Independent (mattsellick.com)

Two Canadian guitarists, renowned for their flamenco-based music that incorporates other musical influences, both have exciting new releases.

My online research shows that flamenco guitar music originated in Spain and is comprised of singing, dancing, guitar and percussive rhythms enhanced by hand claps, foot stomping and the like. Musician/composer/producer Jesse Cook performs his Spanish guitar stylings with amazing Algerian multi-instrumentalist Fethi Nadjem, modern trap rhythms and 808 beats in ten tracks, exploring new sounds based in flamenco tradition with touches of jazz, pop and world music. Seven tracks are composed by Cook. Number 5 has the repeated distant spoken words “number five” as Cook’s mellow single line guitar transforms into virtuosic melody with runs.

Nadjem’s entry adds a different colour to the guitar lines leading to tight violin and guitar improvisations above the rhythms. Love the traditional palmas hand-clapping rhythms with the guitar/violin playing in the upbeat Jaleo. The title track has more radio-friendly tonal singalong guitar above simpler drum grooves. Three Cook/Nadjem co-compositions here include Hey! featuring more rock music sentiments with flamenco flourishes, dance-along rhythm grooves and ascending violin lines. Guest performers also appear on select tracks. Cook’s and Nadjem’s sky-high precise conversational playing, and Cook’s musicianship and technical/production expertise, make for outstanding original music.

Listen to 'Libre' Now in the Listening Room

Younger flamenco guitarist/composer Matt Sellick’s fourth solo album is also superb. Having moved – aka uprooted – to Toronto from Thunder Bay, Sellick builds on his own original intense flamenco sound in collaboration with some of his favourite Toronto musicians here, including Jesse Cook with whom he tours internationally. Sellick plays solo on the opening Quiet World highlighted by technically challenging fast runs with slight spaces between phrases, as if two musicians were playing. Upbeat High Park is a happy-fast flamenco guitar walk/dance in the park grounded by electric bass (Dan Minchom) and rhythmic cajón and palmas (Matias Recharte). Cook is featured on Soot and his characteristic guitar strums and fast melodious solo lines add his personal touch to Sellick’s rocking earworm flamenco sound. Full-band sound is surprisingly created with just Sellick’s guitar and Marito Marques’ percussion in the faster duet Going Home. Colourful high- and low-pitched guitar alternating melodic phrases and strums above drums build intensity to the accented closing. Saxophonist Chelsea McBride is also featured on one track.

Thank you to Jesse Cook and Matt Sellick for admirably expanding and recording their uplifting flamenco guitar sounds during these difficult COVID pandemic times.

Listen to 'Uprooted' Now in the Listening Room

Forever
Bill McBirnie; Bruce Jones
Extreme Flute EF09-EP (extremeflute.com)

This is the third Extreme Flute release, and on this new musical salvo, all of the compositions were penned by Bruce Jones, who also produces, performs on guitar, percussion and synths. Co-producer Bill McBirnie performs masterfully here on flute and alto flute, along with Robin Latimer on electric bass. As COVID was in full throttle during the actual recording of this CD, the production process was complex, and involved countless exchanges of sound files between McBirnie and Jones. The material here has a lovely Brazilian bent – purposely chosen by McBirnie and Jones for the music’s healing and optimistic properties in a time of global pandemic.

First up is Criole Blessing (Saravá Criola), a lilting, reggae-infused samba that generates pure joy and features gymnastic soloing from McBirnie and a potent rhythmic background from Jones. Also a stunner is the legato and sensual samba, dedicated to McBirnie’s wife, Song for Svetlana (Um Choro Para Svetlana) which is rife with lovely exchanges between alto flute and guitar.

Of special mention is the delightful, contemporized bossa, It’s the Time (Saber Se Amar) in which McBirnie soars over the chord changes and rhythmic patterns of this thoroughly elating tune, and also  Dreams and Light (Canta Canção) a beautiful balladic bossa with a thrilling rhythmic backbone and mystical percussion.

The closer, Full Moon Blue Wolf (Lua Cheia Lobo Azul) features deep Brazilian-inspired vocals by the multi-talented Jones and McBirnie’s dynamic and elastic soloing in concentric circles of melody and percussion.

In Relation To
Big Space
Independent (bigspaceband.com)

The latest Big Space album, In Relation To, is equal parts technically impressive and refreshingly easy on the ears. Tastefully incorporating elements of math-rock, post-rock and funk into their blend of fusion, the trio’s firm grasp of the songwriting process is consistently on display. Despite recording live in studio with no overdubbing, the airtight rhythm section, composed of drummer Ashley Chalmers, bassist Ian Murphy and guitarist Grant King, manage to remain in near-perfect lockstep with each other throughout. Thankfully, their outstanding proficiency as a unit doesn’t end up as a vehicle for listless noodling. Instead, it greatly enhances the overall clarity of the musical ideas. The track Relevator is a masterclass in tension and release. Largely buoyed by the tandem of Chalmers and Murphy, Big Space repeatedly establishes a memorable, stripped-down groove that eventually builds to multiple, expertly realized climaxes. During these synchronized bursts of sublime energy, King’s commanding solos manage to spearhead the band’s gargantuan sound without once crossing the line into overplaying. The musicians’ combination of precision and restraint along with their knack for melody writing gives In Relation To a distinct, beguiling quality.

Amir ElSaffar – The Other Shore
Rivers of Sound Orchestra; Amir Elsaffar
Outhere Music OTN 640 (outhere-music.com)

Amir ElSaffar’s exquisite recording begins – most appropriately – in the wispy smoke of a prayer (Dhuha), heralding that time when the sun is at its zenith. The ululations of his near falsetto voice are the perfect setting for this supernatural music. ElSaffar is an astute composer, vocalist and trumpeter who also plays the santur, a Middle Eastern version of the zither. 

What is most remarkable about this music is its swirling, alchemical fusion of mugami modes, mystical, microtonal music that stands in stark contrast to the Western pentatonic scale. That ElSaffar has managed to gather together a group of musicians from diverse backgrounds who play his proverbial Zen – or Sufi – creations with idiomatic brilliance is a testament not just to the musicians who play it, but also to the fact that ElSaffar can write music from such a deep niche while still having universal appeal. 

Part of the reason for that is that humanity is riven by a universal, existential angst that has literally ripped humanity apart. ElSaffar intends for us to listen with our hearts; to make amends and be transformed into more spiritual beings. 

To this end his suite leads us onward and upward. His swirling dervish-like Concentric drives us to what Plato once called divine madness. The composer suggests this magical state may be attained with Medmi, the mesmerizing contemplative finale of this singularly eloquent and symphonic work that takes us to The Other Shore.

Open House
The Fretless
Birthday Cake BDAY037CD (thefretless.com)

Canadian Juno award-winning string quartet The Fretless is Trent Freeman (fiddle/viola), Karrnnel Sawitsky (fiddle/viola) Ben Plotnick (fiddle/viola) and Eric Wright (cello). Each member is a technical and musical virtuoso. Together they transform stereotypical classical ensemble instrumental and roots music sounds into new sonic forms. The Fretless continue their musical explorations in this, their sixth release, collaborating with vibrant powerful singers on ten tracks of carefully chosen, arranged, performed and produced covers. 

The arrangements are clearly influenced by a wide range of styles. Retrograde, featuring Ruth Moody, is a slower work with held string notes, melodies and plucks colourfully mixing with Moody’s vocals and closing humming. Dirty Work is a short dramatic new take on the Steely Dan tune with Freddie & Francine singing fast clean vocals against repeated instrumental grooves and a guitar solo reminiscent background strings. Less intense instrumentals put the spotlight on The Bros. Landreth singing their own Let it Lie, another more straightforward roots rendition. Alessia Cara’s Stay gets upbeat, rocking wailing by Nuela Charles as the quartet supports with repeated chordal textures and held low-note swells. Closing track Fall Away Blues, with guests Red Tail Ring, including its composer Laurel Premo, has classical music reminiscent of background strings and countermelodies until a fast flourish mid-section with a bit of welcome instrumental improv showcasing the quartet’s diverse talents. 

Thank you to The Fretless for providing the vocalists the opportunity to develop and record songs with them. Outstanding music.

Grateful
Caroline Wiles
Independent (carolinewiles.com)

Ontario-based, self-taught musician and songwriter Caroline Wiles performs her musical heart out with lush lead and harmony vocals, and clear guitar/harmonica playing in her fifth release, Grateful. Nine tracks are her own compositions, which run the sound spectrum from 60s-70s-80s’ flavoured pop to country, and one Gordon Lightfoot cover, all recorded by her longtime Hamilton, Grant Avenue Studio producer/bassist/multi-instrumentalist Bob Doidge. 

Wiles’ melodies and storytelling lyrics are heartwarming. A highlight is the earworm title track Grateful, dedicated to her sister, featuring positive real-life sentiments like “I am so grateful for you,” a feeling we can all relate to. Make a Memory with Me is an upbeat 70s tune with wide-ranging high/low pitched vocals and singalong la-la-la sections. What Could Have Been is a radio-friendly pop song with a solo voice alternating with her own group vocals singing “I may never win” to a final held note. Country style Lovey Dovey, has solo and full harmonic sung sections and full band instrumentals featuring Shane Guse fiddle backdrop and solo interludes. It is so admirable that Wiles has recorded her first-ever cover, Gordon Lightfoot’s Talking in Your Sleep, as a respectful tribute to the Canadian icon. Her perfect diction and vocal colours are emotional as bandmember Amy King’s vocal harmony/solo piano stylings keep the mood. Lightfoot has complimented Wiles for all her performances here.

Precise intonation, smooth rich vocal colour, enthusiastic instrumental performances and easy listening songs make Grateful a release for listeners of all ages.

Songs from Home
Polky
Independent n/a (polkyband.com)

Polky – “Polish women” in English – is a Canadian folk band started by three Polish-Canadian musicians, singer Ewelina Ferenc, dancer/singer Alicja Stasiuk and multi-instrumentalist Marta Solek. This is their first full-length recording and the six-piece band, with four special guests, energetically perform uniquely passionate music drawing on their Polish musical roots, various Eastern/Central European musics and that of the multicultural Canadian setting they call home for their musical influences.

Featured are nine Polky arranged/composed traditional Polish compositions. Opening track Hej z pola z pola is an eloquent introduction with Ferenc’s written chantlike vocals above guest Wojciech Lubertowicz’s haunting duduk drone. Then an upbeat fast polka change of pace in an arrangement of traditional Polish Oj Musialas. Vocal solo, choral full answer, energetic vocal squeals, full bass and drum cymbal rings add to its fun feel. Slow instrumental start, full vocals and sudden shift to fast polka in Jewish Polka, with Georgia Hathaway’s violin and Tangi Ropars’ accordion adding to the joyful sound. Rain, one of two original tunes, is composed by Solek. String plucks, repeated wind notes, bass groove and vocals build to final quiet instrumental rain drops. Bassist Peter Klaassen drives and holds the band together in the closing more traditional upbeat polka rendition of Wishing Kasia with his strong groove supporting group vocals and alternating instrumental solos to the closing loud accent.

Polky musically incorporates the love of all their homes’ traditional music into their own luminous original sound. Canadian Folk Music Awards 2022 nominations in three categories!

Folk for Little Folk Volume 1
Gordie Crazylegs MacKeeman
Independent n/a (gordiemackeeman.com/site/albums)

Uplifting joyous energetic musical surprises abound as superstar East Coast fiddler/singer/dancer/composer Gordie “Crazylegs” MacKeeman directs his musical energies to kids and their families in 17 songs. MacKeeman is a father and, when not performing, has worked for ten years as a daycare teacher seeing, as he writes in the liner notes, “a lack of variety in children’s music.” I too spent years teaching daycare music and agree, kids enjoy musical variety. I love what MacKeeman has accomplished here, as he sings and fiddles in many styles like folk, bluegrass and country. He is joined by numerous musicians, including two Gordie McKeeman and His Rhythm Boys bandmates, Peter Cann (guitar) and Tom Webb (banjo/pedal steel).

 All Around the Kitchen has upbeat traditional East Coast old-time MacKeeman fiddling, and hilarious cock-a-doodle-doo female vocals. More traditional fiddling with high-pitch fiddle sections in Listen to the Mockingbird. Fiddle and guitar solos between MacKeeman’s robust singing in his really fast rendition of Hokey Pokey encourages boisterous listener participation. Classic singalong rendition of Log Driver’s Waltz sets the mood for “chair dancing.” A cappella vocals and sounds of trickling/splashing water create a hilarious change of pace in Dancing in the Bathtub. MacKeeman’s composition Boogie Woogie Baby uses the title words as lyrics, making it easy for kids of all ages to sing and dance to its walking groove feel. His relaxing waltz Dreamland closes with tinkly piano.

MacKeeman’s children’s release is perfect! More please!

Baked Cafe
Glenn Chatten
Independent (glennchatten.com)

All of us who grew up in the Yukon knew it was a special place and were never surprised when “cheechakos” would arrive to work for a summer and wind up staying for years and making a life there. Glenn Chatten waited until later in life to move to Whitehorse, and had already recorded several albums as a songwriter and fingerstyle acoustic guitarist. His “Yukon” album, Baked Cafe, is named after one of my favourite places to eat and hang out in Whitehorse (known as the “Wilderness City”). The title song has a grooving beat and makes “flying to Whitehorse on a Saturday” sound exciting and intense, especially if it is to meet a very special person at the Baked Cafe. 

Liam’s Lylt, Tagish Morning and Sima (named after a nearby mountain that has skiing and a zip line) are three marvellous instrumentals that showcase Chatten’s fretboard dexterity. Although Chatten is a relative newcomer to the North, his lyrics show a clear appreciation for the landscape and people. In One Land he sings “beyond the sun dogs, and the ice fog, beyond the deep woven aspen tree, lies a quiet, part of nature, from the mountains to the Arctic Sea.” The words evocatively capture the essence of the Yukon’s territory. 

In addition to Chatten’s fine acoustic guitar and insightful lyrics, the many excellent local musicians add a spirited community vibe to this work. Baked Cafe is expertly engineered and mastered by Bob Hamilton who has been part of the Yukon music scene for decades. Chatten’s album is uplifting and insightful and I hope he remains a permanent part of northern culture.

Listen to 'Baked Cafe' Now in the Listening Room

On My Way To You
Shirley Eikhard
Independent SEM2021 (shirleyeikhard.ca)

Internationally renowned award-winning Canadian songwriter, lyricist, singer and multi-instrumentalist Shirley Eikhard is back with this collection of 12 songs dating from 1982 to present day. This is a fabulous overview of the creative artistic output of one of Canada’s foremost musicians.  Recorded in her home studio in Mono ON, Eikhard produced, arranged, recorded and performed all instruments and vocals here.

Opening track Anything is Possible (2020) is a positive, engaging song. Eikhard sings lead and backup vocals above repeated cadential pattern instrumental grooves and uplifting minimalistic melodies with such lyrics as “I refuse to be frightened,” and closing line “anything is possible…”, making my COVID fears miraculously vanish! Title track On My Way to You (2019) has a more traditional folk feel with longer phrases, guitar accompaniment and colourful sultry vocal tones.  

Great contrast is Good News (1982) showcasing her superb keyboard skills and lyrical singing. Especially powerful are the detached piano chords and vocals to the words “I wish I could bring you good news” while in the Good News reprise track (also 1982) her lyrical keyboard and vocal duet is passionately tear-jerking. The so-current, pop-music-flavoured What I Wish (For You) (2021) features an amazing wind solo. Bound to be a giant hit, My Final Chapter (2020) is a rhythmic up-beat dance and singalong song with such attention-grabbing lyrics as “I am not angry anymore.”

Another all-encompassing, riveting musical masterpiece from Shirley Eikhard!

Listen to 'On My Way To You' Now in the Listening Room

Party for Joey – A Sweet Relief Tribute to Joey Spampinato
Various Artists
True North Records 270573 (truenorthrecords.com)

Singer, songwriter and bassist Joey Spampinato co-founded NRBQ (New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) in 1969. Perhaps not a household name, fans appreciated this multi-genre-influenced rocking band’s and, specifically Spampinato’s, musical greatness, resulting in subsequent gigs for him. Sadly, Spampinato was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, and has been recovering ever since. Many of the musicians here were invited by his wife Kami Lyle and producer Sheldon Gomberg to record a Spampinato-composed song for this benefit tribute album, as well as other generous musicians, who all recorded/donated their proceeds to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to financially support him now.

Highlights include the opening track You Can’t Hide featuring former NRBQ member Al Anderson singing and playing his rock-star heart out, until a classic, crashing rock-star drum ending. Los Lobos adds accordion and sax Cajun-tinged solos to their rocky Every Boy Every Girl rendition. Ben Harper’s clear vocal tone and repeated short melody line keep the lyrics up front in full rocking band Like a Locomotive cover, which features a Keith Richards guitar solo. Unexpected free improv atonal opening and closing of Don’t She Look Good contrasts the rest of The Minus 5 rock performance. Touching, hopeful lyrical ballad last track, First Crush, has Kami Lyle and Joey sing in tight, vocal blends.

Other musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Penn and Teller and Steve Forbert cover Spampinato strong earworm songs. Time to party with these 14 tunes, and to support a worthy cause.

Notes for the Future
Yo-Yo Ma
Sony (yo-yoma.com)

Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s new album Notes for the Future is a series of intimate and heartfelt studio collaborations with singers from five continents. The album’s nine tracks feature Ma with well-known divas and a few names new to me: Angélique Kidjo, Mashrou’ Leila, Tunde Olaniran, Jeremy Dutcher, Andrea Motis, ABAO, Lila Downs and Marlon Williams.

Ma, United Nations Messenger of Peace, writes that this album’s global musical journey explores “how culture can help us imagine and build a better world, featuring vocals in Arabic, Zapotec, Catalan, Paiwan, Spanish, Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqey, Ewe, Maori, and English.” Celebrating the “wisdom of the generations that were and the possibility of those to come,” Ma aims to express “our fears and hopes, reminding us that the future is ours to shape, together.”

Given that stirring mission statement, how does Notes for the Future deliver musically? To answer, I’d like to focus on Honor Song, the collaboration between Ma and tenor-composer Jeremy Dutcher. Juno and Polaris Prize winner, Dutcher, a member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, describes Honor Song as “a Mi’kmaq anthem […] that invokes our collective responsibility to care for the planet we share.” Dutcher’s soaring and emotion-filled Wolastoqey vocal is brilliantly counterpointed by Ma’s lyrical bass-heavy cello and powerful chordal accompaniment.

Dutcher wrote: “This collaboration changed my life, and I’m so grateful to him for sharing his platform and allowing so many more people to hear our songs + languages!” I found the entire album a stirring journey.

Suba
Omar Sosa; Seckou Keita
Bendigedig BEND18 (grigorian.com/webstore/view.php?iid=2188258)

Every now and then the world is graced by an album that has a certain kind of gentleness – the gentleness that contains compassion for humanity and the quest for change. Suba, meaning sunrise in Mandinka, is a melodious microcosm of quietude and hope. There is nothing forced in the music on this album. Each song unfolds in a moment, unhurriedly, as it is just meant to be. 

Omar Sosa (piano) and Seckou Keita (kora, voice) have a knack for creating music that is harmonious with the world and placatory in its core. Both are masters of their instruments, distinguished artistic voices that bring traditions of Cuba and Senegal to the forefront. Sosa plays piano soulfully, as if he is always aware of the preciousness of the moment. On the other end of this collaboration is Keita, whose playing and singing have a beautiful lightness, subtle and captivating. Suba is rooted in Africa and its traditions, with the occasional spice of jazz elements. Equally divided between instrumental and vocal pieces, the album also features a fantastic team of musicians, most notably Jaques Morelenbaum on cello. 

The opening vocal piece Kharit and the percussively driven Allah Léno establish the atmosphere of longing and peace that persists throughout the album. The music always moves forward and the beauty is always present. No One Knows concludes the album with a sonic sparseness that leaves the listener with a profound sense of peace.

Listen to 'Suba' Now in the Listening Room

Armenian Songs for Children
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Avie AV2449 (naxosdirect.com/search/av2449)

A tribute to Isabel Bayrakdarian’s personal heritage, this collection of songs plays like a musical kaleidoscope – ever-changing reflective melodies are connected to beautiful and simple forms, creating a magical sonic space. The 29 tracks are comprised of compositions by Armenian composer and musicologist Gomidas Vartabed (aka Komitas) and his students Parsegh Ganatchian and Mihran Toumajan, as well as some traditional songs. 

One should not be deceived by the fairly slow tempos, there is plenty of movement here – swinging, rocking, bouncing, clapping. A wooden horse and a monkey hang around, and a scarecrow and a nightingale make friends. On the deeper level, there is much longing and sorrow connected to dreams and memories of the Armenian nation and their history. The melodies of these songs are beautiful, sometimes playful, often poignant. The arrangements are sparse, creating an abundance of space for breath and colour. Some of these songs have been sung through five generations of Bayrakdarian’s family and one cannot help but feel the sense of intimacy and immediacy that comes from the weight of life experiences.

Bayrakdarian is phenomenal in conveying the emotional context of these songs. Her voice is willowy and soothing at the same time and she is quite successful in combining the embellishments of folk idioms with the clarity of classical expression. The accompanying ensemble – Ellie Choate (harp), Ray Furuta (flute) and Ruben Harutyunyan (duduk) – has an understated elegance to it, allowing the intensity of Bayrakdarian’s voice to come through.