Kinda Out West
Aretha Tillotson
Bent River Records BRR-202508CD (arethatillotson.bandcamp.com/album/kinda-out-west)
Aretha Tillotson teaches bass and theory at MacEwan University in Edmonton and has played with many prominent jazz groups over the past several years including touring with the Ingrid and Christine Jensen quintet. In 2024 she won a Western Canadian Music Award for Jazz Artist of the Year. Kinda Out West is her second album as leader and I imagine the title is a reference to Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West (1957) which has just bass and drums behind Sonny’s tenor.
Kinda Out West has a similarly sparse instrumentation with Ingrid (trumpet) and Christine (alto sax) Jensen along with Dave Laing on drums and Tillotson on bass. Tillotson has written all nine unique and bopping tunes on this album. Jill of All gives us a sonically edgy melody while maintaining an awesome bass/drum groove. Christine Jensen begins her solo with a (Rollins) Pent Up House quote and then moves into a melodic flurry with a sweet wailing tone reminiscent of Ornette Coleman.
The title tune begins with a tasty and bouncy drum solo and then moves into a happy and loopy melody played with trumpet and alto sax. Eventually the bass picks up the melody and extrapolates it into several marvelous ideas while maintaining the bounce. Sphere of Influence’s melody has definite similarities to Monk’s Well You Needn’t while the improvisations move far beyond mere imitation.
Kinda Out West is quirky and inventive and each musician is allowed to showcase their own style while contributing to a fabulous collective effort.
