Volume 27 Issue 4 - February 2022

thought-provoking Draw Me a Circle, in
which Evans’ warm and sinuous voice effortlessly
scales the pure notes of her upper
register, diving into her cello-like tones (the
perfect complement for Martel’s gamba).
Other gems include the stark and mystical
Blood and Bone and the haunting, Middle
Eastern-modality-infused Suddenly. The
touching and uplifting Prayer is the perfect
closer for this evocative project of nearly
unbearable beauty and fragility.
Lesley Mitchell-Clarke
News Blues
Greg Amirault; Steve Amirault; Adrian
Vedady; Jim Doxas
CUPFA GGA002 (gregamirault.org)
! For his third
release as a leader,
Montreal-based
guitarist/composer/
producer Greg
Amirault has
brought forth an
intimate, swinging,
potent recording
– comprised of seven of his own wellconstructed
tunes, as well as two tasty standards
(both arranged in gorgeous solo guitar
formats). He is also joined here by longtime
collaborators, including his ubertalented
brother Steve Amirault on piano,
the deft Adrian Vedady on bass and Jim
Doxas on drums.
The title track – a sassy, up-tempo blues –
features superb soloing from Greg on guitar,
while the rest of the rhythm session cooks
like an incendiary device as Steve performs
a consummate solo, utilizing his ridiculous
chops and musical pumpitude. A true
standout is Sweet Way (a tip of the hat to
Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way),
which is a groovy 5/4 cooker that brings to
mind the Mundell Lowe-esque L.A. guitar
sound of the late 1950s, replete with a
contemporized perspective. Doxas drives
everyone down the pike with an unwavering
urgency – always making the right percussive
choice – always listening and enhancing.
Also intriguing is the sweet, folk-inspired
Song for Nova Scotia – a heartwarming divergence,
celebrating the Amirault brothers’
Yarmouth roots. Steve’s melodica and Greg’s
guitar solo are perfect in their pristine simplicity.
Other highlights include the bittersweet
ballad, Meeting the Master, which is
dedicated to the memory of the late, great
John Abercrombie, featuring a moving and
facile bass solo from Vedady and a solo
guitar performance of Tad Dameron’s rarely
performed classic, If You Could See Me Now.
Greg’s brilliant interpretation invokes a hint
of Jim Hall, and captures both the longing
and hopefulness of the timeless lyric in a
performance to remind us that Amirault is
one of the most significant jazz guitarists/
composers on the scene today.
Lesley Mitchell-Clarke
From the Astral
Oli Astral (Oliver Grenier Bédard; Frédéric
Alarie; William Regnier)
Multiple Chord Music (oliastral.com)
! The word “astral”
in the title of the
album, the name of
the ensemble and
the role of electronic
instruments
played by two musicians
from the
trio may lead to
the assumption that the music that ensues
fuses the spacey and the terrestrial. In reality,
this music is far more profound. It is as if
Oli Astral – guitarist Olivier Grenier Bédard
(aka Oli Astral), bassist Frédéric Alarie and
drummer William Régnier – lean into a theosophical
belief, dwelling in an ethereal region
comprising their sound world, where each of
their artistic auras melds into music.
It is a lofty ideal, but Oli Astral makes
good on that extra-terrestrial promise. The
repertoire on From the Astral comes from a
place of considerable imagination and intuition.
The six songs are woven from elements
created by the guitarist’s MIDI controllers and
digital audio processing techniques as well as
the bassist’s modular synthesizers that retain
the feel of orchestral textures. Add the palette
that the drummer’s percussion colours create
and you have rhythmic frescoes onto which
are projected a poignant musical artwork
with purity of tone where jazz guitar meets
the electronic realm.
The music of From the Astral also suggests
that this trio’s inspiration lies at the juxtaposition
of jazz and neoclassicism. The idiomatic
adaptation of what ensues from those
imaginary crossroads is altogether atmospheric,
best experienced on charts such as
L’envoi and Spectre Sonore.
Raul da Gama
The History of Us
Carn Davidson 9
Three Pines Records TPR-005
(threepinesrecords.ca/home/
carndavidson9)
! The History of Us
is the latest studio
album from the
Carn Davidson 9,
and the third since
the group’s inception
in 2010.
The 50-minutesworth
of music
heard on this disc stands on its own enough
to pique the interest of any jazz fan, and
behind the excellent compositions, solos
and interplay, lies much personal inspiration.
Listeners are treated to multi-movement
suites by both of the group’s namesake
members, William Carn and Tara Davidson,
sandwiched around the brief but poignant
Goodbye Old Friend, a tribute to their late
feline Murphy – namesake to their last
release in 2017.
Both suites heard on the album utilise
personal narratives from Carn and Davidson’s
lives. Carn’s Finding Home Suite documents
his parents’ migration from Hong
Kong to Canada, and Davidson’s Suite 1985
is described as “a collection of love letters
to her family.” Alongside these non-musical
themes, there is an ever-present balance
between composition and improvisation.
After first hearing the Finding Home Suite, I
was craving more improvisation amidst the
composed notes. But this ratio is definitely
a creative choice, and a valid one given the
quality of the writing. Each member of the
nonet is an excellent soloist as well as a great
section player, and Kevin Turcotte exemplifies
this perfectly, soloing on the first movement
of both suites. The album has a superb flow
to it, and benefits from being recorded exceptionally
well too. I recommend The History
of Us for casual listeners and diehard jazz
fans alike!
Sam Dickinson
Genius Loci North
Jeannette Lambert; Reg Schwager; Michel
Lambert
Independent
(jeannettelambert.bandcamp.com)
! I enjoy reviewing
more abstract
music, as I rarely
run out of things to
discuss. This applies
to subtler and more
ambient projects,
as well as more
boisterous spontaneous
improvisations. This is why I was
excited to have Montreal vocalist Jeannette
Lambert’s Genius Loci North grace my desk.
Lambert, her brother Reg Schwager on guitar,
and husband Michel Lambert on percussion,
all have a knack for playing improvised
music that is both creative and mature. There
is a genuineness to their interactions as a
group that allows the smoother moments to
sound fresh and the more angular offerings to
remain inobtrusive.
While the recording is made up of 15 individual
tracks, they flow naturally into one
another and give the entirety of the album
an undulating feel. This leaves an untrained
listener with a lengthy but interesting meditation,
while maintaining enough ebbs and
flows to keep even the most expert set of ears
enthralled.
Lambert’s vocals sound simple and pure
enough to emphasize the poetry she has
written, but the way she shapes her pitch
over Schwager’s chordal textures is virtuosic
as well. The same can be said of Michel
Lambert’s percussion, which seamlessly
traverses grooves and out-of-time textures.
To know that most of these tracks were
50 | February 2022 thewholenote.com