Volume 21 Issue 1 - September 2015

– and the CD – show that careful cooperation
among equals leads to a summation of Lama’s
skills rather than a quest for novelty.
Ken Waxman
POT POURRI
All Original – 100% Canadian
Quartetto Gelato
QGPI Records QGPI-010 (quartettogelato.
com)
!!
There are lots of
tasty delights for the
ear in this new release
from one of Canada’s
favourite ensembles.
Featuring the
music of five Canadian
composers, the stylistic
differences of each work challenge
Quartetto Gelato to pull out all the stops and
prove yet again that the group can perform
anything presented to them with perfection.
The current members are all musically
gifted and brilliant technicians. Founding
violinist/tenor Peter De Sotto, accordionist
Alexander Sevastian, oboist/multi-instrumentalist
Colin Maier and cellist Liza McLellan
play with mutual musical respect and appreciation
to detail. Cellist Lydia Munchinsky
and percussionists Mark Inneo and Kevan
McKenzie are welcome special guests on the
tracks where they play.
The satisfying more traditional lush classical
sound of Rebecca Pellett’s Una storia
d’amore is chamber music at its best. In
contrast, Maier’s banjo pickings support De
Sotto’s happy singing in Howard Cable’s On
The Crowsnest Trail. A driving rhythmic feel
and dance groove highlight Hilario Duran’s
Latin-flavoured Aventura Afrocubana Suite.
The appealing underlying improvisational
sentiment of Michael Occhipinti’s music
makes his Sirocco and Ballu Di Gelato an
intriguing listening experience. The ensemble
shines in Jossy Abramovich’s Gypsy Fantasia
with more great vocal work by de Soto and
Sevastian’s accordion finesse. More aweinspiring
zippy accordion music shines on
Charles T. Cozens’ Celtic Dances.
Gelato fans should be thrilled with this new
musical flavour from the always-entertaining
Canadian concert stage stars!
Tiina Kiik
One World
Jesse Cook
eOne COH-CD-5812 (jessecook.com)
!!
Virtuosic, globally inspired guitarist/
composer/producer
Jesse Cook is known
for his stellar, crosscultural
musical
motifs and collaborations.
His previous
JUNO-nominated
recording projects have sampled the sonic
landscapes of such far-flung locations as
Cairo, Colombia and Lafayette, Georgia. On
his ninth CD, One World, the usually peripatetic,
Paris-born and Toronto-raised Cook has
chosen to stay in his own back yard, while
still incorporating into his compositions a
tasty ethno-smorgasbord, which includes
sitars and violins, as well as powerful techno
bass sequences and other well-placed and
masterfully engineered technology.
Cook’s considerable skill as a highly trained
classical, flamenco and jazz guitarist is
evident throughout this fine, well-produced
recording and on each composition he metaphorically
crosses the Bosporus – weaving
Eastern and Western musicality and instrumentation
into a joyous celebration of alpha
wave stimulation and artistic globalism. In
describing his project, Cook has said, “The
idea is that there really is just one world. If
you pull your focus back far enough, you
start to see all music as being branches of the
same tree….”
Standouts include Shake – a pulsing
and virile flamenco, infused with raga-like
rhythmic patterns and dynamic percussion;
the wild and trippy sub-continent techno
journey of Bombay Slam and Taxi Brazil,
which conjures up cinematic images of a
heady cab ride through Rio. Also of note is the
mystical and sensuous Steampunk Rickshaw
and the Iberian-infused Beneath Your Skin.
The closing track, Breath, features Cook’s
pure, warm, crystalline solo acoustic guitar,
leaving the listener refreshed and restored –
the perfect end to this multi-sensory journey
through vibrant and delightful musical exotica.
Lesley Mitchell-Clarke
Night Swimming
Gypsophilia
Forward Music Group FMG051
(gypsophilia.org)
!!
In their first studio-produced release,
Halifax-based band Gypsophilia grooves in
many tempos and
musical moods in
original compositions
by five members of the
seven piece ensemble.
From jazzy swinging
tunes like Cake Walk
to the klezmer/world
music influences of Insomniac’s Dream
and RiTiB, producer Joshua Van Tassell has
captured the band’s upbeat spontaneous offthe-stage
sound that has drawn big crowds to
their live shows. The happy music played by
the effervescent musicians is toe-tapping fun!
The producer uses his superb listening ear to
create subtle instrument balances, and to add
atmospheric electronic sound effects. From the
guitar reverb in Boo Doo Down to the washes
of electronic sound in the dark mysterious bass
opening of RitiB, a new band sound evolves.
The slower Deep Water is especially successful
with these effects. A gorgeous opening violin
solo line is supported by a wash of wind-like
sounds to create a sitting-outside-by-the-lake
effect that the other instruments evoke as the
work progresses.
All the players are great, with special
mention to trumpeter Matt Myer in the
opening wah-wah section of Long Shadows,
and double bassist Adam Fine, both in his
solos and his backing lines in each track.
Though running around 40 minutes, this
short yet sweet and bopping Gypsophilia
release showcases a great tight creative band
developing into an even greater one.
Tiina Kiik
Heartstrings
Xuefei Yang
Decca 8888182
!!
The renowned
Chinese-born guitarist
Xuefei Yang released
her latest album
Heartstrings with
Universal Music in
June 2015. Nineteen
pieces ranging from
Chinese folk melody to jazz hits and Spanish
guitar classics have been included in her first
album for the Decca label.
The whole disc seems like a collage as
Yang chooses not to follow a certain topic or
theme to connect the pieces. This, to some
degree, coincides with the cultural characteristics
of the Canadian mosaic. All of the
pieces, although drawn from various cultural
backgrounds, are lovely, delicate and easy
on the ear. Some talk about love affairs (e.g.
Takemitsu’s Secret Love and Elgar’s Salut
d’ Amour) while others depict natural and
mental landscapes.
Yang, with her outstanding technique
and her “East-meets-West” experience,
gives an indubitably charming performance
in Piazzolla’s jazz-styled Milonga del
Angel and popular Spanish guitar pieces.
However, the most attractive selection on the
album is her transcription and interpretation
of Fisherman’s Song at Eventide, a piece
of traditional Chinese music. Widely popular
in North China, Fisherman’s Song is a threepart
piece played on a guzheng, a Chinese
plucked zither. It depicts a sunset scene with
a fisherman going back home after a tiring
but fruitful day. The guzheng player imitates
fishermen’s songs and the sound of waves,
and builds up a jovial and warm atmosphere.
In the process of transcribing it into a guitar
piece, Yang makes utmost efforts to sustain
the Oriental elements as well as to respect
characteristics of the classical guitar. It is a
challenging attempt and happily she finds a
subtle balance between the two instruments.
Having previously recorded albums of Bach
and Britten, on this disc Yang has chosen to
explore her own cultural roots, managing to
bring different narratives and styles together
with great success.
Daisy Meng Li
thewholenote.com Sept 1 - Oct 7, 2015 | 73