Volume 26 Issue 8 - July and August 2021

the music and how each work refers
back to Carver’s ideas and legacy. For
example, Lowlands of Sorrow is Carver’s
phrase from when he discovered the extreme
poverty of farmers in Macon County. Lewis’
saxophone is wailing and, with Knuffke’s
cornet, blows forth a song of suffering. The
melody and solos are deftly underscored
by Parker’s contrapuntal bass and Taylor’s
effortlessly polyrhythmic percussion. Fallen
Flowers has a solemn opening melody which
is soon contrasted by a playfully melodic and
staccato theme tossed back and forth between
sax and cornet. This back and forth movement
continues throughout the piece occasionally
making way for the soloists. Jesup
Wagon ends with one of Lewis’ recitations
that could describe this intense and brilliant
album as a whole: “Embedded seeds
crack through tormented shells of one colour,
giving birth to many hues.”
Ted Parkinson
Everything Happens To Be
Ben Goldberg
BAG Production Records BAG018
(bengoldberg.net)
! Since debuting
with the New
Klezmer Trio in
1991, clarinetist
Ben Goldberg has
produced consistently
inventive, often
witty music, whether
playing works by
John Zorn or Merle Travis. His four stellar partners
here all have previous connections. Tenor
saxophonist Ellery Eskelin shares a breadth of
reference, sentiment and humour. Goldberg has
played duets with bassist Michael Formanek,
while guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer
Tomas Fujiiwara have previously joined Goldberg
in the improvising trio The Out Louds.
The opening What About suggests the gentle
melodic clarity and sudden surprise of Jimmy
Giuffre, while Cold Weather and Chorale
Type are updates of early jazz textures, given
added authenticity by Goldberg’s acquisition
of an E-flat Albert System clarinet, the kind
employed by New Orleans musicians a century
ago. It lends a particularly woody warmth to
the kind of abstracted counterpoint Goldberg
and Eskelin practise here, sometimes further
enhanced by Halvorson’s electronic squiggles.
That Goldberg wit surfaces as well with
Tomas Plays the Drums: Fujiwara does, but
not in a solo feature; instead, he appears at the
end of a collective blast of bass clarinet, saxophone
multiphonics and electric guitar squall,
one more unlikely episode in Goldberg’s
surprise package. The program ends with
Abide with Me, a 19th-century hymn set to
the melody of Eventide, composed by William
Monk, a tune Goldberg first encountered as a
child in a rendition by Thelonious Monk. It’s
played straight, for 1’10”. Now that’s jazz wit.
Stuart Broomer
POT POURRI
Saved
Alfie Zappacosta
Alma Records ACD20512
(shopalmarecords.com)
! Colourful,
compelling, awardwinning,
platinum-selling
Canadian artist
Alfie Zappacosta
is back with an
energetic, vibrant
collection of nine
stylistically diverse original tracks in this, his
16th album. Zappacosta successfully takes on
the positions of songwriter, singer, arranger
and producer here to create a memorable mix
of jazz, pop, rock and ballads. He is joined
by many of his longtime songwriting and
musical collaborators including Gerry Mosby,
Marco Luciani, Andrew Glover, Silvio Pupo
and Louis Sedmak.
Zappacosta’s decades-long career, with
all its personal and professional ups and
downs, has provided him the tools to explore,
compose and develop his musical style in his
own way, and as he explains, now without
record label direction. The entire release is
a gratifying musical surprise. Unspoken is a
colourful romantic ballad highlighted by Bob
Tildesley’s muted trumpet echoing his rich
vocal line. The upbeat title track showcases
Zappacosta’s distinctive rich vocal range,
precise pitch placement and clear articulation
of the lyrics, with enthusiastic backing
female vocals and techno-flavoured instrumentals.
Had Enough opens with an intense
banging drum solo followed by a danceable
pop/jazzy tune driven by Zappacosta’s lowpitched
vocals and bouncy instrumentals.
Here in My Heart, flavoured by Romanticstyle
symphonic music and co-written with
Pupo, is very emotional, highlighted by a
singalong love chorus.
Zappacosta and his team’s charismatic,
passionate performances are perfectly recorded,
produced and “Saved.” It’s so much fun
to listen to, brightening up these pandemic
times with musical energy! Simply said, this
is music for everyone!!
Tiina Kiik
Ain’t Got Long
Art of Time Ensemble
Art of Time Recordings ART003
(artoftimeensemble.com)
! Ain’t Got
Long features
the Torontobased
Art of Time
Ensemble led by
Andrew Burashko
and Jonathan
Goldsmith, arranger
and producer.
Ten numbers by
songwriters ranging from Irving Berlin to
Radiohead are arranged with distinction
by Goldsmith, featuring singers Madeline
Peyroux, Gregory Hoskins, Jessica Mitchell
and Sarah Slean. Among outstanding instrumentalists,
Peter Lutek plays a variety of
woodwinds throughout. Goldsmith’s inspired
title track uses a solo vocal from one of Alan
Lomax’s Prison Songs recordings, successively
adding echoing, a beat, increasingly dissonant
chords and more. A ripple effect results that
expands in time and space and amplifies the
prisoner’s cry.
Especially creative Goldsmith arrangements
include Love in Vain (Robert Johnson)
where the achingly bluesy vocal by Peyroux
is surrounded by Ravelian piano chords,
Hendrix-like electric guitar from Rob Piltch,
and eventually, dissonant high strings that
capture the song’s despair. Another one I like
is of Radiohead’s Exit Music (For A Film),
sung effectively by Mitchell, who at one
point descends unexpectedly into a very low
register. The classically based arrangement
for piano and strings includes scintillating
Chopin-like arpeggios from pianist Burashko,
plus familiar high-pitched chords from Der
Rosenkavalier at the end. Other songs, with
arrangements ranging from traditional to
unconventional, include Calling All Angels
(Jane Siberry) sung movingly by Hoskins, Sad
Song (Lou Reed) with an original vocal interpretation
by Slean, and a fine Someone to
Watch Over Me (George and Ira Gershwin)
by Peyroux.
Roger Knox
On the Other Side of Here
Dan Hill
Sun+Sky Records (danhill.com)
! Award-winning
Canadian singer/
musician/songwriter
Dan Hill’s
16-song release, his
first in 11 years, is an
outstanding addition
to his multi-decade
catalogue. His first hit, Sometimes When We
Touch (1977), is still a favourite of many generations
of listeners. Hill does not disappoint
here, with more moving songs featuring his
trademark lyrics and melodies.
52 | July and August 2021 thewholenote.com