Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos 1 & 2; Symphony No.5

Louis Lortie; Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec

ATMA ACD2 2617

@Grigorian.Com

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn ATMA has released a disc featuring both of his piano concertos and the Symphony No. 5 - the “Reformation”, with the Québec Symphony Orchestra and Louis Lortie, as both soloist and conductor. Lortie has come a long way since his fine debut recording of the complete Chopin Etudes on the Chandos label in 1989. Now recognized as one of the world’s foremost pianists, he is as comfortable with conducting from the keyboard as he is with performing, as this disc clearly demonstrates.

Mendelssohn composed his two piano concertos seven years apart, the first in 1830 while in Italy (completing it in Germany), and the second in England, shortly after his marriage to Cécile Jeanrenaud. While the second is perhaps more serious in tone, both have many similarities – brisk solo passages requiring considerable dexterity, lyrical slow movements, and an overall sense of fine craftsmanship. Not surprisingly, Lortie rises to the challenges admirably, and together with the OSQ, both concertos are performed with great panache. This is indeed a most conducive pairing of soloist and orchestra.

Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 was completed in 1830, honouring the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran faith. Under Lortie’s competent baton, the OSQ again treats the music with the respect it deserves, achieving a grand and noble sound. While the second movement was taken at a brisker pace than I would have liked, it certainly didn’t detract from this most satisfying performance. So to all concerned - félicitations on some fine music-making!

Piano Music by Manuel de Falla

Jason Cutmore

Centaur CRC 2952

(www.JasonCutmore.com)

Pianist Jason Cutmore displays stellar star quality as he performs the piano music of Manuel de Falla. Falla’s compositional output may be described as prolific. His style embraces a wide range of sources, both in melody and harmony, but it is always Spanish in its roots. He wrote specifically for the piano but also arranged some of his other instrumental works for the keyboard. Both genres are represented here.

Two transcriptions are exceptionally noteworthy. Originally scored for chamber orchestra, El amor brujo is technically not as demanding as the other tracks but the folksy Spanish gypsy dance qualities are glorious. From the pantomime El Sombrero de Tres Picos, the piano transcription musically evokes the anger and the frustration of the upset Miller in its guitar-like passages and tumultuous chords. Cutmore plays with a passion and understanding that is never trite.

Of the original piano works, Fantasia Baetica is breathtaking in its compositional and performance values. Originally written for Artur Rubenstein, here is a really virtuosic gem. Cutmore proves that he is a master technical wizard as he seamlessly plays with a clear vision of colour, sound and rhythm.

Jason Cutmore understands de Falla’s piano music, making this an intelligent, musical and enjoyable listening experience.

Concert note: Jason Cutmore performs music of de Falla, Soler and Poulenc for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society on November 1.

Garden Scene

Joel Quarrington; Andrew Burashko

Analekta AN 2 9931

This astounding new album from Canada’s premiere bass player Joel Quarrington is proof positive that the rarely-heard, husky voice of the double bass is indeed capable of the expressive cantilena we normally associate with the cello. This is partially accounted for by the fact that Quarrington tunes his double bass in perfect fifths (an octave lower than the cello) rather than the customary fourths, with a consequent enhancement of the instrument’s acoustics, but it is the sheer musicality of his playing that really wins the day. He is ideally partnered here by his long-time friend and sympathizer Andrew Burashko.

The album includes transcriptions of works by Korngold (the title track) and Henri Casadesus (a transposed version of his faux-classical Viola Concerto In the Style of J.C. Bach). Actual bass pieces include the celebrated Elegy in D major by the 19th century bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini and a slew of sugary bon-bons commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky from Reinhold Glière. Following this pleasant onslaught of bel canto salon music comes the real find, a powerful, world premiere recording of the remarkable Sonata for Solo Bass composed in 1971 by the prolific Soviet composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. The first-class acoustics of the album were produced by Toronto jazz bassist Roberto Occhipinti. An extended podcast preview of this recording and related Quarrington interviews are available from Peter Jones’ web site at doublebasscast.com.

Different Stones - Canadian Music for

Multiple Flutes

Mark Takeshi McGregor

Redshift (www.redshiftmusic.org)

The seven beautifully crafted compositions by young composers, magnificently multi-tracked at the Banff Centre for the Arts by Vancouver flutist, Mark Takeshi McGregor, make this CD of music for multiple flutes of interest beyond the ranks of flute aficionados and beleaguered university flute choir directors.

Meaning of music lies in the way it creates the feeling of going somewhere, moving ahead, departing and arriving. Each piece on the disc does this, developing organically and convincingly, not as in traditional music by the repetition and variety of melody and rhythm, but with different musical elements, such as dynamics, busy-ness, expanding ranges, abrupt stops, silences, and textural contrasts. Apparently random beginnings and endings of long tones in Jennifer Butler’s Sky, for example, provide both repetition and variety, and the addition of short two and three-note tonal patterns moves the piece ahead. The simple addition of a six-note “counter ostinato” to the four-note opening ostinato in Christopher Kovarik’s Dectet similarly creates a feeling of forward motion, and the climactic chord two minutes into the piece creates the feeling of having arrived at a pivotal point.

This CD is an instructive primer in a genre of contemporary composition, which, shall we say, maximises minimalism. As such, it is of interest well beyond the coteries of flute and composition cognoscenti, generating meaning by means that are equally archetypal and yet uniquely and recognisably related to the aesthetic sensibility of our time.

Figment

Matt Haimovitz

Oxingale OX2016 www.oxingale.com

@Grigorian.Com

Matt Haimovitz’s new solo program and CD title were inspired by American composer Elliott Carter (still with us at 100!) and his two Figments for solo cello, but the disc features a wide range of new works for cello alone or cello and electronics by established and emerging composers from Canada and the USA. Three of the works are from 2009, and five are recorded here for the first time.

The short but impressive Carter pieces were the strongest for me; in fact, I found myself preferring the non-electronic tracks throughout the CD – Ana Sokolovic’s Vez, Gilles Tremblay’s Cedres en Voile, Steven Stucky’s Dialoghi and Luna Pearl Woolf’s Sarabande all having “something to say”.

The other pieces, by Serge Provost, the Montreal-based musician/producer Socalled, and - especially - the two Du Yun works, came across less successfully, at least on initial listenings.

There is no indication of whether or not there were any improvisational or aleatoric aspects to the performances.

Unfortunately, there were no booklet notes with the digipak (although these are available on-line at www.oxingale.com). Also, the gaps between CD tracks are often way too short - as little as 3 or 4 seconds at times. Given the stops and pauses in many of the works it’s sometimes hard to tell where one piece ends and the next begins.

Haimovitz, however, is in great form, in a value-for-money CD that packs in almost 80 minutes of music.

Concert Note: Matt Haimovitz’ “Figment” tour stops in Toronto at the Music Gallery on November 8.

Small is Beautiful; Miniature Piano Pieces

Yoko Hirota

Phoenix Classical PHC95252

(www.yokohirota.com)

Yoko Hirota has added another item to her impressive set of laurels in the form a new CD. Keeping things consistent, she begins with a Schoenberg work, 6 Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19. But Hirota advances well beyond the Second Viennese School here, with explorations that take us well into the present day, over the course of 35 different tracks. Works and composers roughly follow a chronological timeline, with non-Canadian composers ending with Elliot Carter in 2000, and the Canadians at the end, from 1951 to 2006. Hirota’s depth and control are unequalled throughout, as can be expected from one with such impressive academic credentials. But it is the works from her adoptive land, Northern Ontario, which make the disc unique. Aris Carastathis’ Traces and two recent works by Robert Lemay are remarkable.

With the recent tours of New Music North, one hopes to hear Hirota to showing pianistic muscle in an ensemble setting, but that must wait for another release. Here, we must be content with a lone Boston model D-272 piano. The recording is nicely balanced between direct and reverberant sound, although the hall is not identified. Recommended.

Stephen Chatman - Earth Songs

Various Artists

Centrediscs CMCCD 14709

“Earth Songs” is the name of a new CD on the Centrediscs label featuring music by the west-coast based composer Stephen Chatman – a sort of “musical plea” for an endangered planet. Although the listener might rightly assume that this is a disc of choral or vocal music, it’s only the first set (and title track) that actually utilizes a chorus. Other works are scored for combinations of violin, cello, piano, saxophone, and solo harp.

The opening suite, using texts from various sources, is a wonderful study in contrasts, from the jubilance of Et inluminent terram to the delicacy of The Waterfall, an homage to ancient China. Here, the University of British Columbia Singers and CBC Radio Orchestra (sadly, in its final recording) are conducted by Alain Trudel. The set that follows, For Pent-Up and Aching Rivers, scored for violin and cello, and the piece Or from the Sea of Time, for piano and cello, are both inspired by poems by Walt Whitman. In the first, violinist Gwen Thompson (who provided the commission) and cellist Eric Wilson successfully create an impassioned mood. Or from the Sea of Time is decidedly more restrained - mysterious and introspective music, where cellist Eric Wilson and pianist Patricia Hoy are featured in a haunting dialogue.

My only quibble with this disc – and it’s a minor one – is the dark and sombre tone pervading much of the music throughout. Is there no glimmer of hope for a better (and greener) future? Nevertheless, the music is a fine representation of Chatman’s musical style – the broad sweeping lines, the lyricism, and the sensitive pairing of music and text are all very much in evidence. “Earth Songs” – what could be more fitting in these environmentally-challenged times?

Percussionique - The complete percussion music of Michael S. Horwood

Toronto Percussion Ensemble

Albany Records Troy1122

(www.albanyrecords.com)

This disc of percussion music by American-born Canadian composer Michael S. Horwood (b. 1947) should attract both new music aficionados and others interested in revitalizing listening experiences. Superbly performed by the Toronto Percussion Ensemble (John Brownell, David Campion, Mark Duggan, and Beverley Johnston) “Percussionique” is beautifully recorded and presented by Albany Records.

The “spine” of this chronologically presented oeuvre is a series of Pieces Percussioniques dating from 1964 to 2008. Spanning various contemporary compositional practices, a consistent voice still emerges, refined yet playful. For example, in No. 3 a sensitive xylophone cadenza leads into a pensive slow section with exquisite, soft dynamics, followed by a rondo with a Monty Pythonesque march rhythm! Piece No. 4 is finely structured in four-parts; the fast sections have for me a hint of Horwood’s passion for roller coasters. A percussionist himself, Horwood writes idiomatically. Intricate divisions of the beat layered variously between instruments give an effect of luxuriant flourishing, without cluttering the texture.

Along with the Pieces Percussioniques, individual pieces showcase particular instruments: The Shadow Of Your Drum for bass drum with 2 players; Dynamite for piano and two suspended cymbals, composed for a noir-ish film scene; and my particular favourite - the vital, carefully structured Fragments (2006) delightfully performed by mallet specialists Mark Duggan and Beverley Johnston. In a noisy world we forget to listen truly: try letting Percussionique’s sound world beguile you!

Little Black Bird

Ernesto Cervini Quartet

Orange Grove Records OG-1104

(www.ernestocervini.com)

Another step forward in the career of Ernesto Cervini, “Little Black Bird” again demonstrates the high level of musicality possessed by this excellent drummer who incidentally is also no slouch on piano and clarinet. In other words, a very musical drummer.

The material on the album is original, creative and played with authority by four musicians who prove that the whole can definitely be greater than the sum of the parts. If you are into the more contemporary sounds of jazz, this is right up your alley.

In a nicely varied selection, for me one of the highlights is Nonna Rosa, a haunting ballad played with a sensitivity and restraint that show a high level of maturity. Indeed, Joel Frahm’s playing throughout the album is impeccable, which is not to take away from the telling contribution made by Adrean Farrugia on piano and bassist Jim Majaraj.

The title tune, Little Black Bird takes off into more esoteric territory as do Cerebrau and Seven Claps, while Coconut Bill shows that this group can really swing when it wants to.

Concert Note: The Ernesto Cervini Quartet will be touring to promote the new CD and you can catch them at The Rex on December 5 and 6.

The Chick Corea Songbook

Manhattan Transfer

4Q FQT-CD-1819 (www.kochcan.com)

One of the hallmarks of a great musician is the desire to continually seek out new musical challenges. The temptation to please your fans and record company by sticking to the tried and true is ever present, so The Manhattan Transfer’s willingness to stretch themselves by tackling “The Chick Corea Songbook” is highly laudable. Not only are these songs incredibly difficult to sing, but many are revered by jazz fans, so any reinvention risks being viewed as musical blasphemy. But if any vocal group is up to the challenge it’s the eight-time Grammy award-winning Manhattan Transfer. Arranger Yousuf Gandhi has done marvellous things with these songs; interweaving multiple melodies, drawing on a variety of cultures for fresh sounds and alternating between a small army of musicians and synthesizers on some songs, and just stripped back voice and piano on others. Spain has been broken into two parts and while the Prelude is a bit strained, when it moves into the medium groove of the main song and is given a funky bhangra treatment, it feels completely right. Free Samba is a mini carnival with its clever evocation of a Brazilian rainforest and an electrifying solo by Corea himself, and Another Roadside Attraction is a complex marvel that could be a case study for aspiring vocal arrangers. This isn’t a readily accessible record, but for fans of the Transfer and Corea it is an adventure well worth taking.

Interventions into Bach & Mozart

Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky

Leo Records CD LR 534

(www.leorecords.com)

Resulting from a dream where he says the composers suggested to Russian trumpeter Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky that he write additional parts for two of Bach’s and one of Mozart’s keyboard works, these “Inventions” are as musical as they are memorable.

Guyvoronsky, who studied trumpet at the Leningrad Conservatory, is most audacious on Inventions II based on Bach’s Art of the Fugue. Partnered by violinist Vladislav Pesin, the players partially deconstruct and roughen the familiar composition. Leaving space for the violinist’s lyrical expansion, this interpretation uniquely bustles. Facing ascending grace-note smears and rubato abrasive echoes from Guyvoronsky, Pesin’s strategy is staccato and presto, encompassing angled spiccato and triple-stopping, with col legno sweeps so extreme they seem to be furrowing the fiddle’s wood.

Built on Bach’s French Partita, Inventions I is for flute, accordion, trumpet, bass and soprano voice. Singing in French, Ariadna Koryagina’s agile tessitura intertwines polyphonically with Grigory Voskoboinikov’s burbling bass line, Evelyn Petrova’s contrapuntal bellows pump and heraldic brass flourishes. Slightly cheeky, somewhat stop-time and always contrapuntal, the instruments add rococo detailing everywhere and swing at points, throwing into bold relief Koryagina’s subtle and supple interpretation. This half-hour-plus compositional re-think wraps up with a bass string slap. Inventions III, after Mozart’s Sonata C-dur, is a humorous bagatelle for violin (Pesin), cello (Vladimir Guyryushov), and piano, most notable for the light touch and sprinkled arpeggios of pianist Polina Fradkina.

The CD confirms that with skill, familiar compositions – especially Bach’s – can be distinctively re-interpreted.

The Rumba Foundation

Jesse Cook

EMI 50999 698061 2 4

Jesse Cook can now add ethnomusicologist to his résumé, right under rumba flamenco guitar god. For his 7th album, the award-winning composer travelled to Bogota, Colombia to absorb the musical culture and integrate it into his unique style of nuevo flamenco music. And he’s done a fine job of it, too. Sometimes when musicians attempt to bring together musical genres the result is somewhat disjointed, with one style awkwardly inserted into the other, never achieving a true blend. But on “The Rumba Foundation” Cook and crew achieve an artful marriage of rhythms and harmonies. Several tracks have been recorded with Colombian musicians Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, and on Manolo’s Lament and Bogota by Bus the group has found the common ground between the musics and traditional Colombian instruments like gaita flutes are completely at home. La Rumba del Jefe’s medium groove completely hits the rhythmic sweet spot.

Cook’s writing and playing shifts easily between contemplative ballads and blistering guitar work. So although there are new sounds here, we also get treated to some of his trademark gorgeous ballads on Tuesday’s Child and Homebound (aided by Chris Church’s plaintive violin), while unleashing the million-note-a-minute runs on Paul Simon’s Cecilia. This, the only cover on the record, is completely appropriate as the rousing multicultural rendition is a great tribute to the man who was one of the first to bring “world” music to North American pop audiences.

Alchemy

Tasa with special guests: Mark Feldman; Adrean Farrugia; Dhruba Ghosh;

DJ Olive Independent TASA004

(www.tasamusic.com)

Ten years ago Tasa’s founder, tabla player Ravi Naimpally, set out to realize his vision to create a new musical form out of the many cultures that co-exist in this country. True to form and mission, “Alchemy” delivers on all fronts.

The complete experience of the album leaves the listener feeling as if they had been traveling, shifting in and out of place, space and time. The “trippiness” of the music can largely be attributed to the soundscaping of guitarist Chris Gartner, and the intermittent scratching of guest DJ Olive. Fragments of electronica sneak up on you in a delightful and unjarring kind of way. If pressed to choose a favourite, it would be Boatman’s Song – an original and haunting arrangement of a traditional Indian folk song. The band collectively evokes mystic waters, complete with rain stick. I was mesmerized by the “other worldliness” of Tasa’s newest addition, Samidha Joglekar’s alaaps (extemporized free-form vocalizations), and I could lose myself inside the reverb and timbre of Ernie Tollar’s magical flute playing.

Dhurba Ghosh guests on sarangi, a stringed instrument akin to the violin considered by many as the closest acoustic reproduction of the human voice. Samudra, one of Naimpally’s originals, means ocean in Sanskrit. Ghosh’s sarangi and Tollar’s sax toss around their easy conversation like waves with the “voice” of Naimpally’s tabla. The song ends in a whirlpool jam session. The album’s last two tracks, Bija and Solar really showcase the band’s versatility and bring new meaning to the term World music.

Tales of big labels retrenching and jazz musicians struggling to finance CDs are legion today – but hang on, start cheering. Steve Bellamy, who’s been recording and producing jazz and classical music for 15 years, has started a Toronto-based label - Addo Records (www.addorecords.com) – with three splendid recordings of top-flight Canadians. Liner notes are by local musicians and planned 2010 releases are already in the can.

Saxophone star Kirk MacDonald opens Addo’s account with Songbook Vol.1 (Addo Jazz Recordings AJR001) with seven of his own tunes and quality sidemen in pianist David Virelles, bass Neil Swainson and volatile drummer Barry Romberg. This adventurous music offers tuneful momentum, rhythmic flair and opportunities for bold contributions from bandsmen backing the leader’s warm, expressive and appealing sound – Virelles and Romberg are never still while Swainson’s lush-toned bass anchors proceedings. The opening, expansive New Piece features flowing ideas, and you understand how Kirk has embraced composition as well as stellar performance. There’s winsome balladry on Calendula, passion lamenting late saxist Glenn McDonald, plus fiercely restless work on By Invitation Only (no prizes for knowing the inspiration).

Mega-versatile guitarist Ted Quinlan, equally comfortable with B3 banger Tony Monaco and string peers like Pat Metheny and Joe Hall, is up next with Streetscape (Addo Jazz Recordings AJR002) featuring nine originals, sterling support from bass Kieran Overs and drummer Ted Warren and his penchant for strong, attractive melodies flagging both old and new approaches. Notes are picked with care, yet there’s often unusual choices à la Bill Frisell. The trio fits seamlessly in an elegant atmosphere, creating mysterious note weaves that nonetheless deliver zestful, snaky improv - but overstatement never cramps finesse on Go West and Vibrolux. The pulse quickens on Speakeasy while Crowchild reveals deep emotional focus. This balanced offering swings breezily to the closing Block Party.

Montreal-based trio Fieldtrip, whose edgy self-titled debut stirred free jazz fans, pulls its horns in somewhat with No Destination (Addo Jazz Recordings AJR003), boosting the power trio of alto Colin Power, bass Patrick Read and drummer Mark Nelson with energetic tenor Kelly Jefferson and guitarist Jim Head. Most tunes come from Power and Read and you wonder, briefly, if this group has turned respectable. It’s cooler only in the sense there’s more melodic structure and harmonic nuance than before to accompany the imaginative elements of musical wanderlust. There’s good chemistry on Sounds On Silence and the surging I Am The Impostor, with each tune splashing a kaleidoscope of ideas that crash with ease through genres and approaches. It’s worth more than a second listen.

Rising bass star Brandi Disterheft trolls new territory on Second Side (Justin Time Records JTR 8544-2 www.justin-time.com), adding vocals she surprised us with when opening for Dave Brubeck in the summer, but showing again that she’s in full control of her music, if not the photographers who’ve glammed her up excessively on the album sleeve. With a hand in 10 of the 11 tracks that she’s arranged, her concept is a musical journey entwined with love - but were guest singers Ranee Lee and Holly Cole needed as the boss fashions a classic pop, classic jazz mélange? Disterheft is backed by a bevy of striking players such as saxman Chris Gale, pianist Stacie McGregor and inevitably drummer Sly Juhas. The starter Sketches Of Belief has the magisterial air of a Miles Davis, there’s a neat Brazilian lilt to Twilight Curtain and some ‘outside’ horn rumbling on My Only Friends Are The Pigeons. I’d have liked more instrumentals with the basic trio such as A Night In Haiti that let Disterheft display her considerable bass chops, while her toying with kalimba hints at interesting future possibilities.

Trombonist Darren Sigesmund is pursuing a somewhat similar course, bringing classical aspects – courtesy of European composers such as Rodriguez, and de Falla – and rock staples into a contemporary jazz mode, heading up a septet in which U.S. saxman Tim Ries has added colour to the leader’s eight thickly-textured pieces on Strands II (DS 09001 www.darrensigesmund.com). You’ll enjoy stuttering rhythms, florid outbursts and Sigesmund’s agile yet smooth-toned trombone. Horns drift sometimes but there’s always something happening, with guitarist Reg Schwager and percussionist Daniel Stone cutting through the forest frequently with ecstatic soloing. Vocal textures from Eliana Cuevas heighten intriguing sounds, and listen out especially for confident and committed playing on Dance For Leila, Castle In The Storm and the zippy El Inicio.

Concert note: This album will be officially released Nov. 6 at Hart House.

Ancient but apt, the saying “you can take a boy out of the country, but can’t take the country out of the boy” is more accurate if the country is Canada and the “boys” are male and female musicians in the United States. No matter how busy they are, improvisers are always ready to play north of the border. Last month, for instance, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based drummer Harris Eisenstadt played two Toronto shows in one day before continuing an American tour.

Being Canadian doesn’t mean cutting yourself from other interests as Eisenstadt demonstrates on Guewel (Clean Feed CF 123 CD www.cleanfeed-records.com). Named for the Wolof word for griots, the band – cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpeter Nate Wooley, French hornist Mark Taylor and baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton – plays the drummer’s arrangements of West African pop music and ceremonial rhythms which he learned overseas. The tunes contain elements of southern dance tracks and brass band marches. Each horn man has the melodic smarts to meld with Eisenstadt’s multi-faceted drumming, producing catchy yet non-simplistic tunes. With his hunting horn sonorities, innate lyricism and pumping vamps, Taylor is a standout. The sympathetic arrangements stack horn parts atop one another in such a way that every solo becomes almost three-dimensional. Rice and Fish/Liti Liti begins mellow and impressionistic, then a drum beat signals a timbral shift with Taylor’s jujitsu tongue-fluttering matched with near Mariachi-styling from the other brass players. N’daga/Coonu Aduna transcends its marching band flavour as Sinton riffs harshly, accelerating to whoops and brays, while the meandering brass trill rococo detailing around him and Eisenstadt clatters, pops and ruffs.

Another notable reedist is Canadian turned Brooklynite Quinsin Nachoff, featured on bassist Michael Bates’ Outside Sources Live in New York (Greenleaf Paperback Series Vol. 4 www.greenleafmusic.com). Another Brooklyn-Canadian, Bates studied double bass at Banff Centre for the Arts and the University of Toronto. Other players are trumpeter Russ Johnson and drummer Jeff Davis. Playing all Bates compositions, the band is straight-ahead enough to maintain a swinging pulse, yet imaginative enough to give everyone free range for creative expression. Nachoff for example, punctuates one tune with gradually accelerating glissandi; Johnson another with high-pitched triplet tonguing. A bravura performance on Damasa finds everyone discovering theme variants. Johnson offers tremolo vibrations; Nachoff snuffled and exhaled split tones; Bates chiming runs and Davis opposite sticking plus blunt backbeats.

Davis is also part of the RIDD Quartet on Fiction Avalanche (Clean Feed CF 121 CD www.cleanfeed-records.com), with CanCon provided by his spouse, pianist Kris Davis, who studied at the U. of T. and the Banff Centre. Outstanding on 10 group compositions, solos are weighed among Davis’ sensitive drumming, sweeping colours from distaff Davis, Reuben Radding’s tough, but restrained bass, and the kinetic runs of saxophonist Jon Irabagon. On Fiction Avalanche, the pianist percussively chords a counter melody that extends rasping bass slides and flattened reed vibrations. Monkey Catcher is a screaming blues expanded by Irabagon’s fortissimo split tones, yet tamed by Davis’ chord progression, key-clipping and flailing. Sky Circles is both atmospheric and lyrical. In unison the saxophonist’s buzzy trills and the pianist’s comping outline the theme. Segmented by winnowing squeals from Irabagon, the pianist moors the improvisation while advancing the theme chromatically.

Double the number of pianos appears on Where is Pannonica? (Songlines SGL SACD 1579-2 www.songlines.com). It was recorded at the Banff Centre by Paris-based Benoît Delbecq who also participates in Vancouver’s Creative Music workshop, and Torontonian Andy Milne, who studied at York and Banff before heading south. Delbecq admits that he couldn’t always distinguish his touch from Milne’s during the playback, but the usual division of labour finds him manipulating inside strings and using electronic loops, while Milne’s stays the acoustic course. Bouncing off each other’s ideas, the impression the two give is of subtle invention. Still each can surprise with the use of spiky patterns and percussive note clusters. Dividing the composing chores as well, the moulded and layered tunes are paced so that when they unwind the polytonal qualities available from the soundboard and other innards decorate the keyboard’s strums and resonations. Probably the best number is Milne’s two-part Water’s Edge. Demonstrating quick-moving, overlapping tremolo lines, the piece modulates from andante to allegro and is harmonized by default. Spacious with cascading portamento, sharpened key jabs glance off bell-pealing-like string plunks.

Fine efforts all, these CDs preview what you’ll hear next time one of these expatriates gigs in Toronto.