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as the terrain and there’s clearempathy with trombonist MichaelVlatkovich, who supplies the sameemotion and force that characterizeHalley’s own lines. Reed isa bulwark of empathy and form,whether providing rapid propulsionwith drummer CarsonHalley on Duology or coming tothe fore with warm pizzicato andarco solos.Drummer Greg Smith went toEurope with Toronto’s ShuffleDemons in the mid-90s anddecided to stay there, taking upresidence in Holland. Among hiscurrent projects is a Rotterdambasedband called Lama withPortuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silvaand bassist Gonçalo Almeida. The groupexpands to Lama + Chris Speed with theaddition of the New York saxophonist andclarinettist for Lamaçal (Clean Feed CF 275cleanfeed-records.com), a live performancefrom the Portalegre Jazz Festival. This islively creative music that delights in detailedclose interaction amid a mix of unusualsonic textures: suggestions of village brassbands, Middle-Eastern scales, electronic loopsand whale sounds abound. It evencombines old-fashioned NewOrleans polyphony with atonality.Smith’s boppish compositionCachalote is highlighted bya duet between the drummer andthe mercurial Speed.Pianist Kris Davis has followeda path from Calgary to Torontoand on to Brooklyn where she hasestablished herself as one of themost creative improvisers of hergeneration. She appears on bassistEric Revis’ City of Asylum (CleanFeed CF 277 cleanfeed-records.com) in a piano trio completedby the veteran drummer AndrewCyrille. The studio session markedthe first meeting of the three musicians,but there’s no sense that they’re feeling oneanother out. There’s aggressive creative interplayin the freely improvised pieces, with aspecial attention to momentum, the threesometimes developing tremendous swingwhile pursuing independent rhythms. Aplayful approach to Thelonious Monk’sGallop’s Gallop and a reverent one to KeithJarrett’s Prayer reveal something of the trio’srange and affinities.of the Atomic band, which is at the RRC’sCo-operators Hall September 4 during theGJF, is one stand-out on Queen Hatshepsutwhen his bravura churning and almost vocalizedtenor saxophone lines make a perfectpantonal contrast to pointillist smears fromaccordion and piano.Balancing a delicate outer shell with asteely core, American flutist Nicole Mitchellis another major improv figure whose IndigoTrio plays St. George’s Church’s MitchellHall September 5. A similar configurationwith bassist Joshua Abrams and drummerFrank Rosaly expands with additional colourson Aquarius (Delmark DE 5004 delmark.com) when the three and vibraphonist JasonAdasiewicz make up the Ice Crystal band.What Herbie Mann’s combo could havesounded like if he had ignored rock-pop blandishments,even Mitchell’s blues and Latintunes trade simplicity for sophistication asfour-mallet, bell-like tones from the vibistand her gruff tremolo gusts are as linear asthey are lyrical.Something in the AirThe Guelph Jazz Festival Turns 20Twenty years after its modestbeginning, the Guelph JazzFestival (GJF), which this yeartakes place September 3 to 8, hasgrown to be one of this country’smajor improvised music celebrations.Unlike many other so-calledjazz fests which lard their programswith crooners masqueradingas jazz singers, tired rock orpop acts, or so-called World orC&W performers who makeno pretence of playing jazz,the GJF continues to showcasecommitted improvisersin sympathetic settingsincluding during the fourthinstallment of the dusk-to-dawnNuit Blanche.Perhaps the most celebrated innovator atthe GJF is trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. HisGolden Quartet, which shares a double billat the River Run Centre (RRC)’s main stageSeptember 7, performs a variant of his classicTen Freedom Summer suite, shortlisted forthis year’s Pulitzer Prize in music. Part of thatprogram was recorded with an orchestra,and you can get an idea of Smith’s structuralblending listening to Occupy The World (TUMCD 037-2 tumrecords.com) as the 21-pieceTUM Orchestra (TUMO) interprets anotherKEN WAXMANSmith composition. The selections’intricate arrangementsserve not to frame Smith’smuted brass flurries, whichbring Miles Davis-like balladmastery into the 21st century,but open up to the talents of themostly Finnish orchestra. Youcan hear that on the title trackwhen the trumpeter’s tale told throughrubato grace notes and squeezedtriplets is matched with tomtom-likepassages from TUMO’sthree percussionists, followed bymassed polyphony pierced by legatostrings, a tremolo harp sequenceand Smith’s conclusive brassy andheraldic tones. The Golden Quartet’sbassist John Lindberg is soloist onMount Kilimanjaro, where his magisterialdouble and triple stopping establish a staccatopantonality which encourages the five-personstring section to abandon legato thrusts forstirring sweeps, and despite being performedat warp speed, encourages a satisfying orchestralmosaic. Leaving space for split-secondsonic blasts from the entire band, before thewarm and welcoming conclusion, Lindbergjoins the other tremolo strings for a sequenceof scrubs and sweeps. Incidentally, Swedishtenor saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist, partTo find out about other GJF highlightsincluding more about thisperformance by American flutistNicole Mitchell, and discs by Japanesepianist Satoko Fujii and Montreal’sBomata trio, see the continuation ofthis column at thewhole note.com.With these groups and many otherson show, GJF 20 promises to be amemorable multi-day experience.POT POURRIBroadsway – Old FriendsHeather Bambrick; Julie Michels;Diane LeahBroadsway BWCD001thebroadswayshow.com! ! Three broads singit their way: meetBroadsway, an explosivelytalented trio.The versatile voicesof Heather Bambrickand Julie Michelsare paired withacclaimed pianist/musical director Diane Leah, who in thiscontext sings, plays and arranges exquisitely.Charmingly, the project started out by accident,when Michels, accompanied by Leah,invited Bambrick to sit in on what turned outto be a fantabulous version of Moondance(find it on YouTube!) in November of 2008.Turns out these three women have morein common than curly hair: incrediblethewholenote.com September 1 – October 7, 2013 | 67