Jazz and Improvised

Soft Winds and Roses
Diana Panton; Reg Schwager; Don Thompson
Independent (dianapanton.com/releases-new.html)

With Soft Winds and Roses, vocalist Diana Panton offers listeners an album that will appease nostalgic music fans, without sounding out of place in the eclectic sonic world of the 2020s. This is a commendable feat, and perhaps the key to Panton’s ability to appeal to such a wide range of audiences. Her music has gained more commercial traction than many comparable Canadian musical acts, without failing to appeal to jazz purists. 

Some of the well-rounded nature of Soft Winds and Roses is a result of Panton’s excellent casting choices. Veteran musicians Reg Schwager and Don Thompson round out a trio “and then some.” Schwager contributes beautiful accompaniment on acoustic and electric guitars, and Thompson is responsible for the arrangements and piano work. The “then some” comes in the form of the aforementioned arranger adding vibraphone and bass to a handful of tracks. Thompson is a master of several instruments and has an uncanny ability to showcase ample musicality on all of them.  

On my first listen I thought that more liberties could have been taken when arranging some of the better-known pop songs covered by Panton. I changed my tune on this, so to speak, after delving further into the recording. The vocal melodies and song forms are treated beautifully by Panton, and they still leave room for improvisation from Schwager and Thompson. 

I’m confident that this album does not require my hype to reach a broad audience, but I’m happy to give it a positive review, as it indeed contains something for everyone.

Listen to 'Soft Winds and Roses' Now in the Listening Room

Tryptique
Fern Lindzon; Colleen Allen; George Koller
Zsan Records ZSAN7458 (fernlindzon.com/tryptique)

What a compelling mixed metaphor it is that draws you into the seductive mystique of the three parts of the painting that adorns the package (bigger, and better explicated if folded out) of this disc. Of course, that magnetic pull only serves to intensify the effect of that metaphor on its transposed metamorphosis into the music of the album Tryptique. Indeed, the pianist Fern Lindzon, saxophonist (and flutist) Colleen Allen and contrabassist George Koller employ the sublime melodic, harmonic and rhythmic subterfuge in their arrangements of jazz standards (Satin Doll) and several originals.  In turn, this music finds reflection in each section of Mythology, the beckoning painting by artist Rose Lindzon, and the unique character of the group’s collaboration brings it to fruition. 

I could spiral into a frenzy trying to define this music and trace its influences. Is it jazz so evasively polyrhythmic that a clear, regular beat rarely emerges? (Cue Kerl Berger’s Zeynebim or Moe Koffman’s A Flower for Amadeus). Do these oh-so-seductive arrangements of standards and originals perfectly define the creativity of the players? 

The sensible thing to do would be to get out of the way and let each song do the “singing.” It bears mention that this is a perfect encounter of musicians whose individual and collective work redefines the very process of improvisation around composition. The result: overall performances that are crisply articulate, rich in hue and gesture.

Listen to 'Tryptique' Now in the Listening Room

Reverence
Carn Davidson 9
Independent CD9-004 (taradavidson.ca/cd9)

The Carn Davidson 9 is an ensemble comprising nine of the “finest players of their generation.” Those five words would be quite a meaningless epithet to describe this nonet were it not for the fact that virtuosity and individuality are almost always completely eschewed except in the case of total immersion in the music at hand. This is but one reason why Reverence is such a flawless musical production

The utter brilliance of the album is that it features beautifully crafted arrangements of beguiling variety and sensuousness. And this is evident in every lovingly caressed phrase of music composed in a myriad of musical idioms beloved of the husband and wife duo: trombonist William Carn and alto saxophonist Tara Davidson. 

Listen to the manner in which the judiciously chosen – and featured – soloists seductively bend and stretch notes, and propel phrases in glorious, airy arcs on Groove and If Not Now, Then When?, and how Davidson sculpts the long inventions of Carn’ Saudé, or how Carn and trumpeter Kevin Turcotte do likewise on Wonderment.

From such brilliant playing, solo or in ensemble, clearly there’s not a single semiquaver that hasn’t been fastidiously considered. Featuring the longtime rhythm section of drummer Ernesto Cervini and bassist Andrew Downing, every musician is completely attuned to the artistry of Carn and Davidson. What better way to honour revered musical icons.

Discovery
Luke Sellick
Sellick Sounds (lukesellick.com/discography)

I review albums from Canada, the US and beyond. Luke Sellick’s latest album Discovery is a hybrid of sorts, with its New York City based bassist and leader hailing from Winnipeg originally. Great music transcends geography, but New York is a city that has attracted the best and brightest improvising musicians for nearly a century. Sellick and his band sound right at home there.

Discovery has an uplifting and energetic tone to it, without eschewing any of the playful edginess one would expect from a group of young musicians in 2024. I was not familiar with most of the artists on this album prior to listening, and I postponed my usual internet sleuthing until I’d heard Discovery in its entirety. This was a fresh way to listen, and I was not disappointed! 

If I were to make an initial criticism, it would be centered on the production aspects of Discovery. Although the individual sounds on this recording are clear, and everyone is present in the mix as a whole, at times subtle additions like the organ on Fun and vocals on Discovery felt a little out of place in the sonic landscape. These were no doubt musical additions, but they toe the line between embracing “studio magic” and obscuring the live-sounding nature of the music. This is a nitpicky and subjective observation, but I’m including it because my other comments are all positive. 

Bassists as bandleaders often have an internalized sense of “programming,” whether in a live or recorded setting. Sellick demonstrates this brilliantly, with the album’s opening and closing tracks being perfect “bookends” to the music they surround.