East Meets West: Connections - Jean-Nicolas Trottier and Fred Stone
Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra
Chronograph Records CR-115 (winnipegjazzorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/east-meets-west-connections)
Winnipeg has produced countless great musicians, many of whom leave the prairie metropolis for other parts of the continent. Those who remain have curated a vibrant musical community, taking advantage of a city that is simultaneously intimate enough to celebrate local talent, but large enough to provide artists with opportunities and exposure.
The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra marked their eighth release with East Meets West: Connections. The album commissioned composers Fred Stride and Jean-Nicholas Trottier, from the west and east of the country respectively, to pen a nine-movement suite that features the who’s who of Winnipeg jazz. I had the pleasure of reviewing the group’s penultimate release Tidal Currents, which I described as “short but sweet.” Connections offers listeners an album just shy of 50 minutes in duration. It flies by, but not without plenty of musical goodness to sink one’s teeth into. The suite flows organically, and eschews track numbers.
Niall Cade plays the first improvised solo on the album, on Trottier’s Sounds of Joy. This was my first time hearing Cade, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. It is tough to feature everyone as an improviser when the ensemble is this large, but we are graced with solos from many unique artists, including pianist Will Bonness, trumpeter Jonathan Challoner, and a nylon string guitar solo on The Healing Song from Larry Roy.
I haven’t named each individual soloist, or addressed each track of the suite, but a more chronological description wouldn’t do the album’s production arc justice. I recommend this recording to keen contemporary jazz fans, and suggest listening to it in its entirety. Each track can stand on its own, but the album truly flows when heard uninterrupted.
