Jazz and Improvised

Dark Moon
Holly Cole
Rumpus Room Records 0246557815 (umusic.ca/products/dark-moon)

Gifted chanteuse Holly Cole has just released her 13th studio album – a project that promises to be one of her most notable musical offerings to date. Cole serves as producer here and has also assembled a stellar coterie of musical colleagues that includes Aaron Davis on piano, George Koller on bass, Davide DiRenzo on drums, Johnny Johnson on sax as well as eminent guitarist Kevin Breit, harmonicist Howard Levy (famed member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones), and the Nashville-inspired harmonic stylings of the Good Lovelies.

There are 11 exquisitely produced and performed tracks here, including compositions from Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Bert Bacharach, Henry Mancini and Peggy Lee – all presented on a tasty platter of originality, and the highest musicianship. Steppin’ Out With My Baby is voiced at the bottom of her contralto register and supported by sweeping arco bass lines from Koller; Cole imbues this classic with a languid, contemporary eroticism. Moon River is performed with honesty and pure melodic integrity, while soulful and facile work from Davis is the icing on the cake.

Another shining gem is the moving, re-imagining of Bacharach and David’s Message to Michael. The forthright arrangement and Breit’s guitar contribution propel this Brill Building hit into a contemporary anthem of loss and longing. The rarely performed title track is a deft odyssey into Southern Swing motifs, replete with appropriate guitar support from Breit as well as vocal harmonies from the Lovelies that harken back to the incomparable Boswell Sisters. Cole’s take on the classic, Walk Away Renée is another triumph, as well as a fine piano/vocal duet featuring sublime intonation, communication and creative entanglement from Cole and Davis.

Bone Bells
Sylvie Courvoisier; Mary Halvorson
Pyroclastic Records PR 40 (sylviecourvoisier.bandcamp.com/album/bone-bells)

The title track begins with a slow, steady pulse trading hands. This pulse has a destination, and will gradually reveal itself as cyclical, but at the start, it is just the slightest notion of a march. Guitar first, and then as if flipping a switch, the piano seamlessly picks up the very next beat. One instrument creates space, one scribbles in the margins, and then this process repeats until that pulse begins to grow heavier, slower, more laboured. Finally, after almost stalling entirely, the original tempo and dynamic return, velocitizing the listener into feeling that initial interval of time as something lighter. 

The improvised passages between Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson begin to defy timeflow even more; melodic phrases finding subversive entry and exit points, glitches that embed themselves in the logic of everything we’re hearing. When we come to a standstill again, Courvoisier seems to always play the same piano chord that suddenly anticipates the next pulse, with Halvorson picking two notes at a time to almost illusively hold up any form of stability that is left. The piece ends with the pattern being abruptly cut short in a manner that implies perpetual continuity. What ensues is a series of increasingly intricate ideas trading hands, back and forth, down to the way the tracklist cycles back and forth between the two composers’ offerings. Always there is fullness in the spaces in between.

Gravity
Jeremy Ledbetter Trio
Canefire Records WBH003 (jeremyledbetter.com)

If you’re a musician or just have an appreciation or love for music, you know that a “sweet spot” is when a group comes to make music together, is on the same wavelength and meshes instantly. It makes for a certain kind of magic that is perceptible through the music itself. This musical phenomenon is present on highly acclaimed pianist, composer and producer Jeremy Ledbetter’s latest album. The record has recently won a JUNO for Best Jazz Recording and features Grammy-award winning drummer Larnell Lewis as well as renowned bassist Rich Brown. With a tracklist of all original compositions penned by Ledbetter himself, this exhilarating disc is one for all music-lovers to check out. 

The listener is transported into a world of fiery rhythms and searing melodies right from the first track, Flight. As the title suggests, Ledbetter’s digits “fly” over the keys with modern, captivating chords and tunes, underpinned by Brown’s tight bass line and Lewis’ complex beats. The inspiration for this album comes from Venezuelan and Trinidadian music which can be heard within the rhythms and melodies throughout each song. 

The record takes you on both a musical and cultural journey, introducing the listener to something completely new while also somehow managing to create a sense of familiarity and comfort. A truly experiential and captivating collection of tunes, we’re left wanting more and awaiting what this talented musician comes up with next.

Crossing Paths
Renee Rosnes
Smoke Sessions Records SSR-2408 (reneerosnes.bandcamp.com/album/crossing-paths)

Illustrious jazz pianist/composer Renee Rosnes has just released a recording that has been in her thoughts for more than 30 years. This formidable, Brazilian-infused project was co-produced by Rosnes and Paul Stache, and all arrangements here were created by Rosnes, embracing her unique perspective on the compositions of Edu Lobo, Egberto Gismonti, Gaetano Veloso, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento. Rosnes performs on Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano, surrounded by a stellar coterie of hand-picked co-creators, including legendary vocalist/composer Lobo, vocalist/composer Joyce Mareno and luminous chanteuse, Maucha Adnet. Noted instrumentalists here also include John Patitucci on bass, guitarist Chico Pinheiro, drummer Adam Cruz, percussionist Rogerio Boccato, saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Steve Davis and flutist Shelley Brown. 

The opening salvo is appropriately Gismonti’s Frevo (Fever). The tune is based on marching rhythms from the north of Brazil, and the complex, rhythmic, melodic line is presented in rapid fire, with stirring unison motifs and unfettered soloing from Rosnes and Pinheiro, while Brown’s expressive flute enhances the high-energy track. Next up is Lobo and lyricist Torquato Neto’s emotional composition Pra Dizer Adeus (To Say Goodbye), in which Neto’s poignant lyrics reflect his 1972 suicide. Previously recorded by over 75 artists, this version boasts a unison line with Rosnes in duet with Lobo’s heart-rending vocal performance. A fine inclusion is Veloso’s Trilhos Urbanos (Urban Tracks). Veloso and Gil’s importance to Brazilian music cannot be underestimated, and Davis’ facile trombone solo enhances the arrangement. Of special delight is Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes’ Canta, Canta Mais (Sing, Sing More) featuring the lovely tones and meaningful interpretation of Adnet. 

Another stand out is Lobo’s classic Casa Forte. Lobo’s vocal and the free solo sections (particularly Potter’s soprano solo) make this one of the finest contributions to this programme, but every track here is a work of art – a creative concept germinated and supremely brought to fruition by Rosnes and her colleagues.