Volume 21 Issue 3 - November 2015

STUART BROOMER
Drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt is currently based in New
York, but he commemorates his roots in the band that recently
released Canada Day IV (Songlines SGL
1614-2, songlines.com). The group style has its
roots in the Blue Note avant-garde of the mid
60s: it’s a quintet of trumpet and reeds, vibraphone,
bass and drums, but the style is
stretched at every point into a dramatic
contemporary idiom, from the eerie sound of
Chris Dingman bowing his vibraphone to Nate
Wooley’s radical reconstruction of trumpet sound, sometimes
departing from his crisply incisive lines to couple multiphonics with
circular breathing. Eisenstadt’s compositions keep inviting the band
members to further invention while anchoring them in often complex
designs that reference his interests in African and Cuban rhythmic
patterns. An emphasis on sub-groupings brings each individual to the
fore, including tenor saxophonist Matt Bauder and the group’s newly
arrived French-German bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, while Eisenstadt
leads from his drum kit, exploring fresh forms of momentum.
Known for his long tenure in Metalwood, the
remarkably successful trans-Canada fusion
band, Ottawa-born Ian Froman is another
Canadian drummer who works primarily in
the New York area. He plays a key role on Noah
Preminger’s Pivot: Live at the 55 Bar (noahpreminger.com).
Preminger is an adventurous
saxophonist whose influences range from the
laconic abstraction of Warne Marsh to the wail of Ornette Coleman,
but he’s chosen to root his music here as deeply as possible. The CD
consists of two songs by Mississippi Delta blues singer Bukka White:
Parchman Farm Blues and Fixin’ to Die Blues. Each primordial blues
provides a launching pad for a 32-minute exploration that will recall
both the Coleman quartet and the titanic work of John Coltrane and
his drummer Elvin Jones as Froman (a student of Jones) keeps the
music moving with continuous polyrhythms and shifting accents,
whether pressing Preminger and trumpeter Jason Palmer ahead or
providing detailed commentary on their phrasing. Like its sources in
the blues, this music has the feel of living tissue.
Another fine Ottawa-born drummer, Nick
Fraser provides solid support to saxophonist
Scott Marshall on Nihahi Ridge (SMT004,
scottdouglasmarshall.com), Marshall’s fourth
CD as a leader and the third by his Toronto
quartet with pianist Marcel Aucoin and bassist
Wes Neal. Marshall is a lyrical player using
his tenor to create warmly reflective music
even when the rhythms are forceful. The group’s sense of dialogue
emerges on After all this Time as the quartet smoothly negotiates
shifts in mood. Aucoin’s luminous solo is a highlight. Marshall’s tone
is just as nuanced when he switches to alto, from the keening wail
of Groovy Eliot to the light, airy sound he achieves on I Wish You
Peace. Marshall’s preference for ballad tempos and strongly asserted
melodies can dominate here, but the off-kilter How Very Kerouac
provides a change of pace along the way.
Pianist/composer Peter Hum may be better known as a jazz and
food critic for the Ottawa Citizen, but there’s nothing to suggest
anything but full commitment to his art on
Alpha Moment (peterhum.com). Hum leads a
sextet here, and his group concept is almost
orchestral. His compositions are well formed
and subtly voiced, with solos arrayed against
his own lush chords, Alec Walkington’s
resonant bass and drummer Ted Warren’s
constant sonic shadings. While the band’s
members are currently spread out geographically,
the group clearly came together at a special moment for the
Ottawa jazz scene, much of the excitement coming from two Ottawaraised
saxophonists who have since moved on: Kenji Omae, now resident
in Seoul, may be the most exciting tenor saxophonist to emerge
in Canada in recent years, a powerful, impulsive player who’s also
capable of lustrous ballad playing; Nathan Cepelinski, now a New
Yorker, plays alto and soprano with quicksilver thought and phrasing.
Along with glassy-toned Montreal guitarist Mike Rud, the six make up
a terrific band, something that’s apparent everywhere here, but most
pointedly on the aptly named title tune.
Bassist Daniel Fortin makes his debut as a
bandleader on Brinks (Fresh Sound New
Talent FSNT 473, freshsoundrecords.com).
While his compositional skills have figured in
releases by the band Myriad3, they play a more
prominent role here, defining a strong,
personal style. Fortin’s pieces consist of just a
few notes, a phrase or two to be recast, concentrated
and contrasted. He creates edgy, tensile
structures that have some of the character of Thelonious Monk’s
works without any particular resemblance. It’s music that requires
tremendous discipline on the part of the band to come up with sufficiently
minimalist improvisatory approaches that are true to the spirit
of the works, but that’s just what tenor saxophonist David French,
vibraphonist Michael Davidson and drummer Fabio Ragnelli have
done. Operating within a set of timbres that might suggest comfortable
ballads, the group turns out complex music filled with intriguing
juxtapositions and fresh patterns. Fortin himself plays bass with a
keen sense of structure and a special melodic focus.
Tenor saxophonist Steve Kaldestad
criss-crossed Canada and spent an eightyear
sojourn in England before settling in
Vancouver in 2008. Since then he has established
himself there as a solid exponent of the
mainstream modern. New York Afternoon
(Cellar Live CL032014, cellarlive.com) presents
him in performance with pianist Renee Rosnes
(one of Vancouver’s great contributions to New
York jazz) and her regular rhythm section of bassist Peter Washington
and drummer Lewis Nash. Kaldestad swings fluidly through a
program that ranges through hard bop blues and swaying Brazilian
melodies to the more exotic modal underpinnings of Joe Henderson’s
Punjab, with Rosnes’ scintillating solo recalling her extensive work
with the late saxophonist’s band. Her own Icelight explores similar
strata, while the ballad highlight comes on Kaldestad’s soulful and
silk-toned rendering of Beatriz.
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