Canada does more than produce hockey players. Here’s some music that clears the rink.
Trombonist William Carn teams up with woodwinder Tara Davidson to lead a loose and swinging ensemble of origials. The pianoless nonet includes Kelly Jefferson/ts-ss-cl, Perry White/bs, bcl, Jason Logue/tp-fh, Kevin Turcotte/tp-fh, Alex Duncan/Btb, Andrew Downing/b and Ernesto Cervini/dr and the band can deliver sounds that are free and wild with an inherent pulse a la Mingus as the drums snap on “Murph!” and the baritone groans on the assertive “Try Again.” The reeds get impressionistic for the pastel’d bass clarinet on “Glassman” while the team floats on “Colebourn.” The band has some Aaron Copeland moments on the textured “Murphy’s Law” and the horns gasp and sigh on “Family Portrait.” Mingus Moods!
Drummer Ilios Steryannis leads a nonet, but from behind on this mix of post bop and Mediterranean. Greek themes and pulses created by Seryannis, Connor Walsh/band Larry Graves/perc let Sundar Viswanathan/s alto sear through “Florina” and “Alek’s 11.” A nice tropical groove has the horn team of Viswanathan and Kenny Kirkwood/bs snap and sizzle while a hip re-arrangement of “Giant Steps” takes place with Joel Visentin’s B3 on “Keep the Change” while the B3 hims along with Scott Neary’s sinewy guitar on the postmodern “The Ornado.” Fresh as a sea breeze.