Jazz and Improvised

Twisting Ways
Sarah Slean; Karly Epp; Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra
Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra WJOCD0005 (winnipegjazzorchestra.com)

This Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra recording has been an exciting assignment to review, as it features a core of local musicians alongside guests from Montreal, Toronto, New York, and the work of Liverpool UK conductor, baritone and poet, Lee Tsang. For years I have known the work of Phillippe Côté, David Braid, Mike Murley and Stephan Bauer, the four guests from this side of the Atlantic. It is also always a pleasure to write about Winnipeg, which I described in a December review for The WholeNote as having “a long thriving music scene, unfairly receiving less attention than other large Canadian cities’ communities”. This still holds true of the aforementioned midwestern metropolis, but ideally large projects like Twisting Ways and its myriad out-of-town guests will help bring this vibrant arts community more of the notoriety it deserves. 

Despite having spent ample time visiting friends, family and fellow jazz musicians in Winnipeg, I was aware of surprisingly few names on this project’s personnel list. This is rather refreshing, given the consummate professionalism heard here. Vocalists Sarah Slean and Karly Epp breathe beautiful life into the often-challenging melodies they are presented with and the WJO’s excellent rhythm section makes even the most intricate of grooves sound accessible. The four tracks that make up the Twisting Ways suite are some of my favourites on the album, but Lydian Sky and Fleur Variation 3, are far from disappointing as well.

The Bright Side
Joel Frahm; Dan Loomis; Ernesto Cervini
Anzic Records ANZ-0068 (joelfrahm.com)

I first heard the outstanding, saxophone virtuoso Joel Frahm over ten years ago at New York’s Jazz Standard (sadly, a now-shuttered COVID casualty), and have since made a point of catching him in Toronto over the years, when he’s often been featured in drummer Ernesto Cervini’s band, Turboprop. 

Frahm’s latest project and debut trio album, The Bright Side, brings him and Cervini together again, along with bassist Dan Loomis (also a Turboprop member). Fun fact: the trio arose out of a U of T jazz masterclass. These three masterful musicians are longtime musical friends and colleagues, and their empathetic, polished, “well-oiled machine-ness” is evident on each of the ten original tracks; seven are penned by Frahm, two by Loomis and one by Cervini.

Frahm offers three dedications on the album: the high energy Blow Poppa Joe is for Joe Henderson; Benny Golson is honoured in the cool and upbeat Thinking of Benny (where I’m sure I heard a nod to The Andy Griffith Show theme song); Omer’s World is a funky homage to the great Israeli jazz bassist Omer Avital. As for Frahm’s swinging and inventive title track, its inspiration was Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side.

Loomis’ Silk Road is a moody and sensual track, with Frahm on soprano sax. And The Beautiful Mystery by Cervini is a hauntingly pensive and evocative ballad, showcasing the emotion and heart these stellar musicians bring to the table.

Here’s hoping we’ll hear more from Frahm in the chordless trio format!

Idiom
Anna Webber
Pi Recordings PI89 (pirecordings.com/albums/idiom/)

Anna Webber extends her creative trajectory with this two-CD set, exploring a critical issue arising between her roles as improviser and composer: “While as an improviser I was interested in extended techniques and in the saxophone as a creator of ‘sound’ and not just ‘pitch,’ my compositional world was limited to the latter.” For her Idiom series, each composition is based on an “extended technique” from her improvisatory practice, whether circular breathing (for continuous sound), multiphonics (compound sounds) or audibly percussive fingering. 

Disc One presents her longstanding Simple Trio with pianist Matt Mitchell and percussionist John Hollenbeck. That apparent economy of means testifies to Webber’s imaginative powers, demonstrating an expanding palette, from the percussive repetition of a short flute motif in Idiom I to the concluding Idiom III, a demonstration of the daunting intensity and complexity a trio might achieve as her repeating multiphonic phrase is matched to corresponding piano and drum parts, the tension ultimately breaking into free improvisation.

Disc Two presents the 62-minute Idiom VI, its six movements and four interludes performed by a 12-member ensemble of strings, winds, percussion and synthesizer, alive with distinguished improvisers and conducted by Eric Wubbels. Creating moods from subtle lyricism to raw expressionism, and some unnameable compounds, Webber fuses unusual timbres in fresh, sometimes unidentifiable ways, including loose-lipped trombone explosions, tamboura-like drones and similarly unlikely massed police whistle blasts. Along with Webber’s own presence on flute and tenor saxophone, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, violinist Erica Dicker and contra-alto clarinetist Yuma Uesaka make significant solo contributions to one of 2021’s most notable releases.

The Long Game
Jacqui Naylor
Ruby Star Records RSR-011 (jacquinaylor.com)

World-renowned native-Californian jazz vocalist Jacqui Naylor has an interesting approach to the aforementioned genre. She loves the classics but definitely brings a modern touch into her music and this interesting combination couldn’t be more apparent on her newest, not to mention 11th, studio album. Featuring music by rock and pop greats such as Coldplay, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel, Naylor has lent her own unique touch to each of these songs; effectively jazzifying them in a very pleasant and listenable way. Sprinkled amongst these covers are originals penned by the diva herself, a couple of which are co-written by talented pianist Art Khu. 

One piece that immediately stands out is Coldplay’s Fix You; Naylor’s smooth alto vocals in combination with a flowing piano melody and a subtle but poignant bass line make the song take on a slightly more melancholy and softer tone than the original version. Naylor’s own I’ll Be Loving You pops out; a Latin-flavoured tune that does a great job of not only showcasing another side of her musical taste but also gets the listener grooving along in their seat. A truly outstanding track is Bowie’s Space Oddity, where a mellow piano line and an almost counter melody played on upright bass overlaid by chords on the Fender Rhodes make for a unique flavour given to the classic song.