Volume 30 Issue 4 | December 2024 & January 2025

moments of pure

moments of pure serendipity. It is extremelyfitting that an LP release featuring differentperformances from this series feels like ittranscends the live album medium into somethingthat feels significantly more alive,breathing.Track lengths range from under a minuteto over ten, and these lengths feel quite deliberate;each piece brimming with energy andmomentum, trains of collective thought thatclearly state their destination without havingto arrive there. Sitting at the extremes of thisspectrum of duration are the pieces Fallinginto Echoes and Sonoluminescence, whichbear incredible resemblances to each other,setting a tranquil groundwork, then eventuallyopting to draw from reserves of tensionthat are not pollutants; merely a textureetched a little deeper, or a new source of light.The consequence of choosing excerptsof larger pieces and then sequencing thema certain way is that the profound powerof spontaneous composition is apparentin an entirely different manner than theact of circumstantially stumbling upon it.Instances that did not inform each other inthe literal sense begin to touch on meaningthey would not have in isolation, momentscollide to change each other irrevocably.When unfettered process becomes crystallizedin product form, there exists a chance ofreincarnation as shimmering as this.Yoshi Maclear WallConcert Note: Exit Points takes place the lastFriday of each month at Arraymusic.Simpletrio2000Anna WebberIntakt CD 430 (annawebber.bandcamp.com/album/simpletrio2000)! Away from theiracademic roles,Canadian tenorsaxophonist/flutistAnna Webber nowat the New EnglandConservatory andAmerican drummerJohn Hollenbeckwho teaches at McGill, join long-time associateNew York pianist Matt Mitchel, for atenth anniversary reunion of their Simpletrio.The playing focus: ten enigmatically titledWebber compositions.Bookended by two modest groove tunesthat expose their innate interaction as theyblend reed honks, patterning and splatteringkeyboard strokes and metronomicdrum beats, the exuberant mood theyexpress animates the entire album. Althougha track like 8va is languid enough to highlightWebber’s expressive bass flute lowingmatched with intermittent piano clips, toughpressure and sophisticated linear melodieswith mercurial timbral divergences characterizemost of the other tunes.Idiom VII for instance is built arounda repeated unison riff, with interludes ofreed tongue slapping, drum press rolls andcarousing piano pumps. Meanwhile Miiire is aspidery tune that becomes speedier and moredissident as it unrolls without losing its horizontalflow. Prominent are Webber’s transverseflutters and peeps and Hollenbeck’srim clanks, which at points unfold in tandemwith the piano for more prominent soundcoloration.Countering the old saw that those who cando, and those who can’t teach, is this sessioninvolving Webber, who is Co-Chair of NEC’sJazz Studies Department and Hollenbeck whohas taught jazz drumming at McGill’s Schoolof Music since 2015. Alongside Mitchell theyprove they can definitely do.Ken WaxmanPeaks and ValleysTeri Parker’s Free SpiritsModica Music (teriparkermusic.com)! Paying homageto two irreplaceablelegends ofimprovised music,Peaks and Valleys isabout as refreshing,moving and ingeniousas a tributecan be. Playing twopieces each from the expansive works of GeriAllen and Mary Lou Williams, Toronto pianistTeri Parker’s group makes the absolute mostof them, with these renditions being soberingin their clarity and the care taken in bringingout every nuance of the original recordings,while feeling like something entirely new isconstantly taking place.Geri Allen’s classic Drummer’s Song startsout as exactly that, with Mackenzie Longpre’sexhilarating drum intro slyly and graduallyimplying the song’s central pulse, and thenwhen Allison Au enters with the saxophoneostinato near the one-minute mark, everythingsomehow perfectly falls into place, amoment that captures that intangible feelingof rhythmic alchemy unique to Allen’s music,where a listener is fully along for the ridewithout ever entirely reaching an understandingof why all these moving parts are soperfect for each other.Parker’s own original pieces comprisethe other half of the tracklist, with somecontaining more easily identifiable parallelsto the album’s influences (Gemini II forexample, both shares a title with an iconicMary Lou Williams piece and an openingprogression that could easily be a nod to herlater period). Others, like the mesmerizing,goosebump-inducing Bear Hug, sound likea heartfelt message expressed entirely sonically,the kind that offers receiving ears a senseof belonging.Yoshi Maclear WallBrett Hansen – ConfluenceBrett Hansen; Mallory Chipman; ChrisPruden; Murray Wood; Joel Jeschke; LuisTovarIndependent (bretthansen.bandcamp.com/album/confluence)! Confluence, thedebut album fromEdmonton guitaristand composerBrett Hansen, hasits roots in jazz,but also injectsmany folk, rockand impressionisticelements. Most of the tunes feature the voiceof Mallory Chipman. Perfect Intentions floatsthrough its opening with Chipman singingthe wordless melody, rocks out briefly, andthen quiets down for Hansen’s solo whichworks through several restrained jazz moods.Chris Pruden adds a sparkling piano solobefore it ends as it began. Starbathing is awinding and exploratory duet featuring JoelJeschke (drums) and Luis Tovar (percussion).Moonshower begins with some niceguitar work before evolving into anotherBrazilian-influenced melodic section withChipman singing. Jane’s Song is more folkinfluenced beginning with an arpeggiatedguitar section before moving into a jazzysung melody.Confluence is an engaging album whereall the musicians contribute to the jazz/folk/fusion vibe giving it a coherent and identifiablesound. I look forward to Hansen’s nextrelease and wonder what other moods he andhis musicians will conjure.Ted ParkinsonPortrait of Right NowJocelyn GouldIndependent JGCD2405(jocelyngould.com)! Sporting awater-tight tracklist,a phenomenalrhythm section,captivating soloingand a swing feelthat never ceasesto compel the feetto move, Portrait ofRight Now is yet another exceptional offeringfrom guitarist Jocelyn Gould, who yet again isin complete control of her craft.Alongside a pair of beautifully interpretedstandards, eight Gould originals can befound here, all featuring a thoroughly catchyapproach to melodicism, as well as harmonythat beguiles and eludes in equal measure,forcing the listener’s hand at keeping therepeat button firmly pressed as their dayprogresses. Largely exchanging solos betweenthem for most of the album’s runtime, Gouldand pianist Will Bonness are equal partsinimitable and playful, wowing with their66 | February & March 2025 thewholenote.com

fleet-fingered runs, while constantly turningheads with the clarity and audacity of theirrhythmic ideas.Accompanying them is a linkup of JaredBeckstead-Craan on bass and Curtis Nowosadon drums, simply a beautiful partnership.They effortlessly sit directly on top of thetime, providing a sturdy foundation for theadventurous phrasings of the chordal voices,while also exhibiting deep listening, nevermissing a beat, a notion or an opportunityto jump on a synchronized comping figure.This album has the added benefit of soundingvirtually perfect, with each instrument givenample room in the mix to articulate everythingto the last syllable, and the physicalityof every note played is palpable. Whata breeze.Yoshi Maclear WallCookin’ at the Queen’s Live in Las Vegas1984 &1988Emily RemlerResonance Records HCD-2076(resonancerecords.org/product/emilyremlercookin-at-the-queens-live-in-lasvegas-1984-1988-2cd)! Gifted jazzguitarist, EmilyRemler, left thisearthly coil in 1990at the tender age of34, having alreadyestablished herselfas one of the finestjazz musicians ofher time. Embodying elements of the guitariststhat she idolized, she blazed her ownsuccessful trail. Remler once said, “I may looklike a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, butinside I’m a 50-year-old, heavyset black manwith a big thumb, like Wes Montgomery.”This archival, two-disc recording projectjust released on Resonance Record isco-produced (along with Zev Feldman)by noted jazz writer Bill Milkowski. Bothdiscs were recorded live at The FrenchQuarter Room in The Four Queens, locatedon the old Vegas strip on May 28, 1984 andSeptember 19, 1988. It features a quartetwith Remler on guitar, Cocho Arbe on piano,Putter Smith on bass and Tom Montgomeryon drums, and also a trio format with Remleron guitar, Smith on bass and John Piscion drums.Stand out tracks include a tasty, up-tempo,swinging arrangement of Autumn Leaves,with Remler fluidly incorporating influenceshere of Herb Geller all-the-while completelyprescient of her own style. Also on this trackis superb solo work from Arbe and Smith.Polka Dots and Moonbeams is a tender andvulnerable take on the Van Heusen and Burkeclassic, bringing to mind the great LennyBreau, another guitar genius gone way toosoon. Particularly inspired is the cookingmedley of Tad Dameron’s Hot House andCole Porter’s What Is This Thing Called Love.Remler is fearless, and takes no prisoners here– channeling her hero, Montgomery, all thewhile literally burning up the stage with herstultifying technique, taste and communicativesensibility.Incredibly moving is Gene DePaul’s YouDon’t Know What Love Is. On this languidballad, Remler’s emotional maturity andinterpretive skill comes to the fore, whileanother stellar track is an up-tempo arrangementof Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays. Remler’sfacile soloing is nothing short of breathtaking,and her intensity wrings the nuanceout of every single note played or implied.This recording not only displays a great artistat perhaps the peak of her skills, but is also anessential part of jazz history.Lesley Mitchell-ClarkeVerdi RemixLe Mirifique Orchestra; Alban Darche;Emmanuel BénèchePepin & Plume P&P 009 (pepinetplume.bandcamp.com/album/verdi-remix)! Putting a newspin on the oeuvreof Giuseppi Verdi(1813-1901) isdaunting, especially,if as Frenchsaxophonist AlbanDarche has done,the transformation involves Le MirifiqueOrchestra, which is only a nonet. Yet byinserting his own compositions among thefamiliar tunes and using different harmonies,polyrhythms and internal cycles to reorchestrateothers, he’s created a standalone work.Transcending history these 14 melodiescomfortably fit an ensemble of four brass, tworeeds, plus flute, guitar and drums.Without being reductive, the Verdi themesoften move with a bouncy oomph, propelledby Matthias Quilbault’s tuba burps, and aregiven a swing and marching band foundationby Meivelyan Jacquot’s measured drumbeats.With many tracks expressed tutti orwith emphasis such as Darche’s tremolo altosax bites following Hervé Michelet’s trumpetfanfare and preceding a swelling reed/brass crossover on Variations sur la marchetriomphale d’Aïda, the distance betweenvillage square brass band and chamberorchestra is minimized. So is the gap betweenopera and traditional songs.Within a piece like La Forza del Destino/Destino variations may include blastingcrescendos contrasted with guitarist AlexisThérain’s lyrical finger picking and ThomasSaulet’s flute flutters, but the changes don’tsuppress the initial themes. Other tracksinclude faint circus music or film scoreinferences.Deepening not destroying the composer’scanon is the aim here so that VerdiRemix honours both the composer and theinterpreters.Ken WaxmanPOT POURRIFeel With Blood – Echoes of TheresienstadtLenka LichtenbergSix Degrees (open.spotify.com/album/6Dj5Uf3eCSgVNUCOePO6fr)! This album ofsongs is a continuationof the experiencesof Anna HanaFriesová (1901-1987), and of LenkaLichtenberg, hergranddaughter.These stories ofFriesová’s life in a concentration camp werefirst sung in the Czech language on Thievesof Dreams (2022) by Lichtenberg, an artistwith a gorgeously spellbinding and agilesoprano that sometimes swoops down intoa dark lower register, eminently suited tobringing the elemental sadness of Friesová’spoetry to life.The crimson-coloured outer package isthe first sign that what you are about to hearare especially heartbreaking songs basedon Friesová’s diaries that documented lifeduring the Holocaust. In Feel With Blood,Lichtenberg has grown to deeply inhabitmore than just her grandmother’s character,but her very life. She sings with great feelingand intensity and an always vivid responseto the text documented in Friesová’s diaries.Lichtenberg’s voice is sharp as a knife, penetratingthe depth of life and poetry with eachbeauteously soft – sung or recited – phrase.The vocalist often employs chilling chest tonesas she draws us into Friesová’s world, makingher Holocaust life leap off the page.The superb song poetry features matchlessdepictions of Friesová’s loneliness andsuffering. Lichtenberg displays sublimeartistry, with an uncanny ability to makethe North Indian tabla and its polyrhythmsperfectly suited to the ululations of a voicesoaked in Czech folk melodies on thiswonderfully orchestrated recording.Raul da GamaAzadiTamar Ilana & VentanasLula World Records LWR04551A(lulaworldrecords.ca/product-page/azadi-by-tamar-ilana-ventanas-cd)! Toronto-basedmultilingualsinger and dancerTamar Ilana, ofJewish, Indigenous,Romanian andScottish descent,grew up on theroad learning fromand performing with her ethnomusicologistmother Dr. Judith Cohen.In three well-received previous albumsthewholenote.com February & March 2025 | 67