Jazz and Improvised

Caity Gyorgy With Strings
Caity Gyorgy; various artists
La Reserve Records (caitygyorgy.bandcamp.com/album/caity-gyorgy-with-strings-arranged-and-conducted-by-mark-limacher)

Back in the heyday of popular singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole it was standard practice for record labels to release albums for their artists every year or even multiple times a year. (Fun fact: Doris Day recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.) And these weren’t thrown together bare bones records – they were fully orchestrated and replete with horns, woodwinds and strings. Caity Gyorgy is throwing back to that time with this latest release (her sixth in about as many years) and she references that era in her liner notes, saying how labels used to “crank ‘em out.” 

But this sounds like anything but a rushed job, with its beautiful production and full orchestra on each track. All ten songs are original and penned by Gyorgy and Mark Limacher or by Gyorgy alone. Most of the songs clock in around the three-minute mark, and there’s no soloing to speak of, and that all adds to the nostalgic feel of the album and puts it more in the crooner category than jazz. Limacher’s gorgeous arrangements give the record a generally upbeat tone, despite some quite poignant lyrics from Gyorgy, and on several of the tunes the orchestrations really take centre stage. 

Standout tracks for me are Gyorgy’s own Next Time and There Goes, and the collaboration That Doesn’t Matter where the melody is the star and the arrangements complement and support it. Overall, this record is quite an accomplishment and Gyorgy and Limacher should be very proud. Bonus: the cocktail recipes included in the liner notes are a lot of fun!

Listen to 'Caity Gyorgy With Strings' Now in the Listening Room

Murmurations
Kate Wyatt Trio
Independent (katewyatt.bandcamp.com/album/murmurations)

It’s truly beautiful when you can almost hear an artist’s thoughts unfolding within their compositions. Pianist and composer Kate Wyatt’s latest release takes influence from nature, specifically the murmuration of starlings, an elaborate, unifying behaviour. It unfolds like a living organism, constantly shifting shape while maintaining an inner logic. 

The album captures the beauty of collective motion – ideas circling, separating, and reconvening – without ever losing its sense of purpose. All pieces are penned by the members of the trio; Wyatt, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Louis-Vincent Hamel. 

Central to the album are Wyatt’s piano melodies, agile and conversational. She lets the phrases breathe and take on a life of their own. Vedady and Hamel round out the compositions perfectly, encouraging the music to soar to new heights. Instead of spotlighting virtuosity for its own sake, the record emphasizes interaction. 

Coming back to the concept of murmuration, the music has a communal feel to it, shaped by trust and a shared curiosity. The trio feels as if it’s truly breathing as one being, ebbing and flowing as nature does, progressing through the pieces together. Sonically, a satisfying balance between warmth and clarity is achieved, with each note and nuance crystal clear, bringing the emotion and feeling within the music to the forefront. 

Murmurations is thoughtful, elegant, and quietly adventurous, reflecting a mature artistic voice confident enough to let the music evolve naturally, on its own terms, with utmost grace.

Haunted Melody
Peter Campbell; Various artists (including Kevin Turcotte; Bill McBirnie; Adrean Farrugia et al)
Independent (petercampbellmusic.com/music)

A good album is characterized by many different elements, one of them being when it manages to transport us into the mind and deepest feelings of the musician. American Canadian vocalist and producer Peter Campbell’s fourth release is just that – an emotionally charged musical journey where all is bared to the listener. Built on introspection rather than spectacle, the record feels intimate and deliberately restrained, inviting the listener into a quiet, vulnerable space. It lingers long after the final note fades, like the echo of a song drifting down an empty hallway. 

Campbell has been influenced by Brazilian and Portuguese music on this album which featurest three pieces by Brazilian composers. This influence is especially prevalent in a tune like Lost in a Summer Night, where a soft, reverberant guitar melody is layered over bossa nova rhythms and keyboards shimmering faintly in the background. The arrangements throughout the record leave plenty of breathing room for the music and emotions to play out in their own ways, nothing feels rushed. One of the most satisfying aspects is the amount of warmth and space that are present, perfectly conveyed by Campbell’s emotionally direct, beautiful vocals, adding just the right amount of reflection to the tunes. 

This album is for late nights, quiet rooms and listeners willing to listen beginning to end. In embracing subtlety and sincerity, Campbell delivers a haunting, thoughtful work that resonates precisely because it refuses to shout.

Listen to 'Haunted Melody' Now in the Listening Room

Grant Stewart – Next Spring
Grant Stewart; Tardo Hammer; Paul Sikivie; Phil Stewart
Cellar Music CMF110223 (grantstewartjazz.bandcamp.com/album/next-spring)

Toronto-born, New York City based Grant Stewart is a masterful tenor saxophonist, composer and producer. Additionally, he is the Director of the revolutionary and free-thinking Tribeca Jazz Institute. With over 20 CDs to his credit, this is Stewart’s fifth album for Cory Weeds and his impressive Cellar Live label. This well conceived project was beautifully recorded at the iconic and legendary Van Gelder Studios. Stewart’s collaborators here are three of the most refreshing and creative jazz artists on the scene today – pianist Tardo Hammer, bassist Paul Sikivie and (brother) Phil Stewart on drums.

The intriguing material on the recording includes rarely performed jazz standards, as well as five original compositions. Stewart was a student of the late, great Barry Harris, and although bop and post bop modalities are wonderfully present in Stewart’s writing and soloing, this is a cutting edge, technically thrilling, contemporary jazz album – rife with emotional depth and totally devoid of any over-trodden licks or trite modalities. 

First up is Next Spring by Marvin Jenkins. Stewart’s rich, warm tenor sound is a delight, and the quartet is tight. Hammer takes a dynamic solo here, not only displaying his technical chops, but also his superb choices and lush harmonic ideas. Sikivie and tasty, skilled drummer Stewart are deeply locked in, the bass solo fluid and facile. Wayne Shorter’s immortal, Nefartiti is also stirring, with the ensemble donning a sensual, languid and deeply swinging motif. 

A stand-out of this thoughtful programme is Harris’ composition, Father Flanagan, which was written in tribute to genius jazz pianist Tommy Flanagan. Stewart’s sonorous tenor sound, and the depth of sensitivity of the players here is stunning. This inspired recording is nothing short of a master class in the art of the jazz quartet. Every note has been created with skill, creative intention and taste.