Volume 25 Issue 4 - December 2019 / January 2020

an intimate encounter as between pianist and
vocalist, Champian Fulton, and saxophonist
and impresario, Cory Weeds. What is no accident,
however, is the fact that these two musicians
seem to automatically fall in with each
other, melodically, harmonically and rhythmically,
so that axiomatic sparks begin to fly.
Weeds plays with quiet brilliance
throughout Dream a Little… His uniquely
sophisticated and sonorous style weaves
in and out of the vibrant and affectionate
expressivity of Fulton’s pianism, her voice
often becoming the crowning glory of the
songs here. Both musicians seem to connect
in a rarefied realm, but they then descend
to earth where they each inhabit a palette of
sumptuous colour. Then, like a couple in love,
playfully oblivious of the attention they have
attracted, they hold each other’s music in a
tight embrace.
There is too much proverbial gold on this
album, but I am going to risk suggesting that
the biggest ear-opener is Darn that Dream.
This performance burns in the quietude
of the bluest part of a musical flame; its
languid, seemingly interminable narrative
made to simmer forever in a rhythmic
and sonic intensity where Weeds contributes
lyrical prowess, while Fulton offers her brilliant
vocalastics, which sustain the music’s
emotional mood while bringing the text’s
poetic imagery to life.
Raul da Gama
High and Low
Sam Kirmayer; Ben Paterson; Dave Laing
Cellar Live CLO 20118 (cellarlive.com)
!!
During an era
in which even the
most straight-ahead
jazz guitarist tends
to have a sprawling
array of pedals
on stage, Sam
Kirmayer is something
of an anomaly.
A traditionalist who tends to eschew effects
in favour of the unmediated connection
between instrument and amplifier, Kirmayer
has found a voice for himself in the bluesy,
hard bop style of guitarists like Grant Green,
Wes Montgomery and Peter Bernstein. His
newest album, High and Low, is his first to be
released on Vancouver’s Cellar Live Records;
an apposite fit, for a label that has become
Canada’s leading outlet for hard bop. High
and Low is an organ trio album, a rarity
in and of itself in Canada. Drummer Dave
Laing – who also played on Kirmayer’s debut
album – is a faculty member in McGill’s jazz
program, and is a stalwart of the Montreal
scene. New York organist Ben Paterson, whose
résumé includes work with Bobby Broom,
Johnny O’Neal, and Peter Bernstein, rounds
out the trio.
High and Low delivers amply on the
premise that it sets out for itself: it is a
swinging hard-hitting album, with crisp,
tasteful playing from all involved. It is also,
from the opening notes of the title track,
a sonically beautiful experience, with all
of the richness and depth that one hopes
for in an organ trio recording. Kirmayer is
in his element throughout High and Low,
and Laing and Paterson make for a strong
rhythmic team.
Colin Story
Trane of Thought (Live at The Rex)
Pat LaBarbera/Kirk MacDonald Quintet
Cellar Live CLO71819 (cellarlive.com)
!!
When two extraordinary
jazz saxophonists
team up
for a John Coltrane
tribute, you know
it’s going to be
explosive. And
that’s exactly
what this live recording, featuring both Pat
LaBarbera and Kirk MacDonald along with
their band, is. The record is a well-picked
and thought-out selection of songs from
the two Coltrane tribute shows that the duo
performed at our city’s beloved jazz joint,
The Rex, in 2018. Ranging from the legendary
saxophonist’s earlier works to some of his
most lasting and obscure ones, LaBarbera
and MacDonald have achieved, in their own
words, “a thoughtful balance.” The album
stems from a love for Coltrane that the duo
has, LaBarbera seeing him live when he was
studying at the Berklee School of Music and
MacDonald discovering Coltrane on record at
an early age.
The songs on the record, although from
separate live shows, have been picked in
such a way that it tells a thorough story;
starting off sultry and well-paced with On
a Misty Night and Village Blues, building
up to a wonderful and fevered climax with
Impressions and coming to a scintillating
end with Acknowledgment/Resolution.
Coltrane’s works can be appreciated very well
here, especially with the excellent backing
musicians – Brian Dickinson on piano, Neil
Swainson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on
drums. Fan of Coltrane or not, this album
should definitely be a part of any jazz aficionado’s
collection.
Kati Kiilaspea
Chrysalis
Sonia Johnson
Independent PSJCD1911
(soniajohnson.com)
!!
Creating an
album of music
where disparate
musical styles come
together can seem
burdensome on
paper. But when
there is just too
much in the essence
of music to be left out, indulging everything
becomes imperative. This is the raison d’être
for Chrysalis the first English language album
from the francophone artist Sonia Johnson.
The title suggests a bringing to birth of something
transformative. It certainly seems so
after the last notes disappear into the air.
But more than anything else, you get
the sense that Chrysalis is a labour of love.
Featuring beautifully crafted arrangements
of beguiling variety and sensuousness, in
every lovingly caressed phrase, Chrysalis
lays bare Johnson’s adoration of music in all
its harmonic sumptuousness. Her chosen
material consists of original songs – either
written by her, or co-written with others
whose work she delights in – so that listening
to this music feels like opening an ornate box
to reveal hidden gems.
For instance, listening to the way in which
Johnson seductively bends the notes in Storm
and Monsters, and how she sculpts the long,
sustained invention of We Need to Know, it’s
clear that there’s not a single semiquaver that
hasn’t been fastidiously considered vocally
and instrumentally by an ensemble attuned
to Johnson’s artistic vision. Two other vocalists
– Judith Little-Daudelin and Elie Haroun
– deliver powerful performances. Meanwhile
Johnson’s mellifluous timbre beguiles
throughout as she digs deep into her nasal,
throat and chest voice.
Raul da Gama
Fundamentally Flawed
Dan Pitt Trio
Independent (dan-pitt.com)
! ! Over the past
few years, guitarist
Dan Pitt has been
steadily establishing
a presence
for himself on the
Toronto jazz scene.
Fundamentally
Flawed, the debut
album for both Pitt and his eponymous
trio, is a showcase for Pitt’s playing and his
unique compositional style; in both, one can
find complementary elements of modern
jazz and creative/improvised music, with a
tendency to employ the former in service of
the latter. This being the case, Pitt has done
well in choosing his bandmates: bassist Alex
Fournier, whose recently released album
Triio is a stylistic cousin to Fundamentally
Flawed, and drummer Nick Fraser. A generation
removed from Pitt and Fournier, Fraser’s
artful drumming has been an increasingly
common presence on the projects of younger
Toronto musicians, and it is affecting to see
him continue to contribute to a scene that
he helped to establish in the late 90s and
early 2000s.
Though Pitt plays electric guitar,
Fundamentally Flawed is, at its core, an
acoustic trio album, with an emphasis on the
interactivity, excitement and close listening
94 | December 2019 – January 2020 thewholenote.com