By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Dialectics
I
enjoy reviewing all jazz artists and groups, old and new, but I’m particularly
intrigued by releases that originate outside the United States. That’s the case
with this album, which features Canadian musicians — or those influenced by
Canadians — and is produced by Factor Canada, and released on British
Columbia’s Cellar Live label.
I
often yearn for the sounds and styles that originated during the big band years
and, over time, I’ve noticed an interesting thing. Because international
artists often develop their skills by listening to music that originated in the
States, many of them wind up producing the kind of jazz that turned us on
during that big band period.
Drummer
Curtis Nowosad, who leads this quintet, was born in Winnipeg and has been a
force in the Canadian jazz scene for years. He’s also a member of the New York
jazz fraternity. His colleagues here are saxman Jimmy Greene and trumpeter
Derrick Gardner, both Big Apple artists; and pianist Will Bonness and bassist
Steve Kirby, who share jobs in both Canada and the States.
As
often is the case when a drummer fronts a combo, the menu includes mostly mid-
and up-tempo burners. Consider, as one example, that the
standard “I Remember You” is done here at race-horse speed. Wayne Shorter’s “Speak
No Evil” is a great swinger, and T. Monk’s “Bye-Ya” is given a smooth, Afro-Cuban
reading. “Gleaning & Dreaming” emerges as a waltz, varying from 5 to 3
meters.
The
solo work is uniformly excellent, including Nowosad’s obligatory drum passages.
Our
Northern neighbors have produced some good stuff here, and I look forward to
more of the same.
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