Volume 29 Issue 5 | April & May 2024

Openness François

Openness François Carrier Quintet Fundacja Sluchaj FSR 10/2023 (sluchaj. bandcamp.com) ! Released 18 years after recording, Openness is three CDs of high-quality improvisation and also a historic document. The two free jazz pioneers, Polish trumpet Tomasz Stańko (1942-2018) and American bassist Gary Peacock (1935-2020), invited to participate in 13 instances of free-flowing sonic exchange by younger Montrealers, alto/soprano saxophonist François Carrier and drummer Michel Lambert, have since died. New York violinist Mat Maneri is still very much alive and the interchange transcendedage and geography. Non-hierarchical, each player gets to originate some tracks, with the Québécois on their own for Dance. Otherwise each player sticks to his individual approach, though all bond seemingly seamless throughout. Lambert mostly accents the tracks, the string players move between rugged slices and intricate guitar-like or even sitar-like strokes, while Stańko’s leaps among brassy bugling, grace notes and portamento linearity is heartbeat-quickly matched by Carrier’s double tonguing, flutters and thick smears. One-on-one interaction involves all. Wide Awake is an instance of this where Stańko’s scatter-shot triplets are met by Maneri’s spiccato jabs, then with interactive vamps from Carrier’s ascending smears, with Lambert’s percussion pumps helping to ease the fragments together by the finale. Insightful is another example as corkscrew reed tones challenge mewling brass lines as swelling string patterns cushion the turn to horizontal tonality. With more than three hours of music on Openness it’s best to savour each high-quality disc separately rather than trying to assimilate all in one aural gulp. Ken Waxman ALIVE! In the Studio Charlotte Keeffe Right Here, Right Now Quartet DISCUS MUSIC 160 CD (discus-music.org) ! Prominent as part of the new wave of young brass players conversant with free and standard improvisation, the UK’s Charlotte Keeffe convenes her working quartet to confirm this stance. Affiliated with guitarist Moss Freed’s string clips and frails, Ashley John Long’s double bass plunks and stops and Ben Handysides’ cymbal clatter and drum slaps, Keeffe’s trumpet/flugelhorn stylings range from open horn flourishes to half-valve smears and timbral plunger examinations. Nowhere is this clearer than in Wholeness and 1200 Photographs III. A companion to the previous tune’s run-throughs, the latter expands the tongue-stopping techniques and note hiccups of the other versions to expand their indirect bossa nova suggestions to upfront swing where strangled brass bugling is perfectly matched with centred guitar strums. Freed’s frails are transformed into irregular chording and string shakes on Wholeness as arco bass buzzes and clanging rim shots further expand the extraterrestrial tone references brought to fruition by Keeffe’s plunger scoops, unexpected whiny variations and low-pitched portamento runs. Never sacrificing tunefulness for technique, the quartet members maintain a tenacious, but subdued groove throughout the nine tracks, while integrating interludes of bowed bass expositions and rapid surf-music-like guitar licks. It also allows Keeffe to dig into her horn’s innards for heraldic blasts and bitten-off bleats. On the final Brentford the players conclude the instrumental playing by harmonizing vocally on a bouncy melody. This too confirms the teamwork that went into creating this session. Ken Waxman POT POURRI Distancia Solidaridad Tango 3AM FISH RECORDS 3AMFR02 (solidaridadtango.ca) ! Toronto-based Aparna Halpé is a Sri Lankan- Canadian tango violinist, arranger and composer with over a decade of experience in the traditional Argentinian form. In early COVID-time 2021, she founded Solidaridad, an all-female Toronto tango ensemble comprised of Valeria Matzner (vocals), Halpé and Suhashini Arulanandam (violins), Esme Allen-Creighton (viola), Sybil Shanahan (cello), Shannon Wojewoda (bass), Elizabeth Acker (piano) and special guest Eva Wolff (bandoneon). Halpé’s English lyrics are not in traditional tango Spanish. Thu opening track’s intense spoken poem Winter’s Coming sets up the tango. The moving recitation And I Have Been Looking is about the deaths of three indigenous women. The closing poem The Dance with unexpected background subtle instrumental held notes, gives thanks to indigenous peoples and land acknowledgements. Solidaridad expands tango soundscapes throughout. Argentinian Petalo Selser’s complex Deriva’s opening traditional tangos develop into the low string groove as other instruments play percussive beats, held notes, high pitched strings with slides, melodic conversations, a short slow section and closing rhythmic cadence. Wolff’s arrangement of José Dames’ Fuimos features a comforting calm bandoneon with technically challenging musical tango flavours in varying tempos. In YYZ, Halpé takes on arranging her self-described tango homage to the rock instrumental by Rush’s Geddy Lee and Neil Peart with contrasting Sri Lankan folk music and rhythms in riveting tango/rock sounds with alternating loud and quieter sections, rhythmic banging, faster repeated melody, slow final crash and closing laughter!! Inspired by COVID grief to exuberant happiness, Solidaridad’s “Toronto tangos” are perfect! Tiina Kiik Ancestor Song Janice Jo Lee Independent (janicejolee.ca) ! Multiinstrumentalist and vocalist Janice Jo Lee has had seven years between albums, during which time she has peeled away several layers of her former self in order to lay bare her spiritual, political, cultural and environmental bones. Lee, a well-known artist in both Kitchener and Toronto, is more than music. A poet, folk artist, improvisor, facilitator, creator and comedy workshop leader, she is nearing the height of her powers in this latest album, a beautiful collaboration with another Ontario native, producer JoJo Worthington. Overture: Ancestral Song opens the album with a medley similar to the opening of a musical, leading into Oil in the Grand, a story of contamination on the Grand River, with beautiful vocal harmonies. Here I am is Lee’s statement of her new anthem of taking space and commanding control of her own power. Moonlight Tide is fun and slightly campy, featuring Lee’s poetic lyrics and vocal range. She Looked like Me is a folk-inspired gem about her ancestral Korean heritage, but could be an anthem to anyone feeling disconnected from their own lineage. Swim Forever features Korean lyrics to a strongly rhythmic melody and features the beautiful flugelhorn playing of Rudy Ray (probably my favourite track on the album). The jazzy Crumpled Heart Unfolding and Account Ability, the folksy Child Inside and her vocal looping on Take Space, the catchy Ancestral Song itself, and the power rock-inspired closer Patient as the Land will give you the vast range of Lee’s 76 | April & May 2024 thewholenote.com

style, skill and passion. Cheryl Ockrant Babylonia Suite Ilios Steryannis; Sundar Viswanathan; Jessica Deutsch; Nawras Nader Independent (iliosjazz.ca) ! The names Babylonia Suite and Ilios Steryannis are incorporated into the circumference of a pictogram on the top right-hand corner of this CD cover. This otherwise rather unobtrusive icon of a tree with spreading roots and branches that seem to be encapsulated by both title and name is both intriguing and revealing. For in these roots and branches – fascinating in their ancient modes and modern interpretations – lies a thrilling musical ride. You are treated to a series of works that begin with the title song Babylonia itself. The tumbling Middle Eastern groove oscillates between a 6/4 and a 12/8 pulse and sets the tone for the rest of the disc. The first six songs make up the narrative suite of the title that spans the cultural topography of the ancient region which Steryannis’ maternal ancestors once called home. The drummer has, of course, called Canada home for many years, but like so many Canadians celebrates diversity as he knows best. His Greek-Hebrew culture unfolds as if in a parade of Middle- and Near-Eastern street musicians whose passionate ululating melodies, eloquent harmonies and infectious rhythms emerge through a modern vortex. While Steryannis has sought to celebrate the ancient origins of his maternal heritage this music is far from a sentimental journey written in odd metres. The brawny, polyrhythmic Blue Rumba, meditative Sun Song and vivid 400 North and Laplante also reveal a composer with a refined, multi-dimensional melodic voice. Raul da Gama Collective Wisdom Sybarite5 Bright Shiny Things (brightshiny.ninja) ! New York string quintet Sybarite5 is back with their first studio album in five years performing nine single movement tracks combining classical, contemporary, improvisations and folk sounds. The two original band members double bassist Louis Levitt and violinist Sami Merdinian are now joined by three new members – violinist Suliman Tekalli, violist Caeli Smith and cellist Laura Andrade. Paul Sanho Kim’s arrangement of Punch Brothers’ Movement and Location is zippy with repeated violin fast lines, grooves and ideas keeping listeners enthralled. Three short Komitas Armenian Folk Songs are arranged by Sybarite5’s Merdinian (himself of Armenian heritage). In The Red Shawl a yearning sense is depicted by low held strings with above lines. Spring is tearjerking, with slow and solemn low bass held notes and gradual instrumental entries. Oh Nazan features a faster rhythmic hopeful opening with high pitched lines. Tight ensemble playing featuring Greek melodies with reggae rhythms embodies Curtis Stewart’s Mangas. Jessica Meyer’s Slow Burn is held together by similar danceable Something in the Air Reed-Keyboard Recitals Create Variations on Chamber Improvisation KEN WAXMAN ideas in different sections. Composed earlier during a period of loss, Pedro Giraudo’s own arrangement of his Con un nudo en la garganta is a slow dark tango that builds to closing intensity. Michael Gilbertson’s Collective Wisdom third movement starts with snappy percussive string pizzicatos that continue to add tension until the sudden accented loud closing with bangs. Jackson Greenberg’s so different Apartments has rain, coffee machines, AM radio news sound and electronics while each musician is given the freedom to play their lines as they wish. Sybarite5 brilliantly play breathtaking music to be enjoyed over and over. Tiina Kiik Although many might imagine most free music as intense and raucous, the first adjective may be applied, but the second is sparingly used for the special sounds created by these five reed-keyboards duos. Some may argue that chamber-improv foreshortens the creative urge; however these duos have come up with various strategies to project multiple timbral arrangements without bluster or bellicosity. Recorded in a venerable spacious church in Copenhagen, Locusts and Honey (ILK Records 349 ilkmusic.com) was created by two Danish residents who are both from other countries. Pianist Matt Choboter is Canadian, while alto saxophonist Calum Builder is Australian. Putting aside any country-associated shibboleths, both players operate in the realm of pure sound with the nine improvisations reflecting the church’s spatial properties as well as Builder’s extended reed techniques and the preparations of Choboter’s keyboard. Harsh squawks and irregular trills issue from the saxophonist, yet are balanced by passages in which muffled snarls dissolve into distant no-key-pressure moments as unaccented air is pushed through the horn. Celeste-like tinkles and suspended echoes share space with wood slaps, inner string jiggling and soundboard hammering from the pianist. Duo synergy is reflected on a track like Crossing on Akróasis when understated saxophone vibrations and horizontal key pumping create a delicate, almost mainstream expression. More compelling are those performances when seemingly incompatible motifs amalgamate as kindred expressions. Honey for instance manages to meld as reflective patterns, Builder’s deep inside the body tube hunting-horn-like resonance and Choboter’s implement juddering piano string clangs. Needle-thin top-of-range snarls from the saxophonist on Hark! are balanced by music-box-like chiming created by subtle piano string agitation. This leeches tension from the reed tones to attain a muffled connection. Enhanced textures also characterize the work of another duo, each member of which is an accomplished improviser on an acoustic instrument. Here though, heightening timbres are added from the live electronics used by Russian-American pianist Simon Nabatov. The oscillations’ span suggests the addition of a third instrument to Nabatov’s keyboard on Entanglements (Acheulian Handaxe AHA 2301 handaxe.org) recorded with fellow Cologne resident, German tenor saxophonist Matthias Schubert. Free jazz despite the additional thewholenote.com April & May 2024 | 77