New music

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This article was published 24/09/2020 (2183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POP / ROCK

Figure Walking
Vertical / Horizontal (Disintegration Records)

Every time Winnipeg singer-songwriter Greg MacPherson releases an album, it’s tempting to wonder why more people haven’t embraced his heartfelt, full-throated approach to rabble-rousing rock ‘n’ roll. Over the past 21 years, he’s released 10 albums either as a solo artist, with the Greg MacPherson Band or, most recently, as Figure Walking, a guitar-and-drums duo with Rob Gardiner (whose brother Alan plays bass on their recordings).

Vertical / Horizontal is GMac’s 11th full-length record and, even if he hasn’t become the second coming of Springsteen, it’s clear he’s just as passionate and has just as much to say as when he began. The 10 songs here paint vivid pictures of people grappling with frailties of spirit and circumstance, living lives that haven’t exactly turned out as they planned, all set to beats and melodies that can’t help but uplift. Mr. X tells the story of a wild small-town kid turned small-time outlaw on the run; the downtrodden protagonist of Heavy Rain realizes how lucky he is to have his partner, whom he can’t appreciate enough even he lives a hundred years; Paradise tells a plaintive story of the immigrant experience; and the traveller in Indonesia marvels that he feels alone whether he’s at home or a stranger in a strange land.

Colourful is the album’s standout song, a fast-moving, imagistic take on the swirling maelstrom of life in a “post-post-post modern world” where we’re at least “safe and warm and entertained.” As Gardiner channels his best Hugo Burnham on the drum kit, MacPherson plays a joyously distorted guitar solo that perfectly encapsulates the jagged feeling of 21st-century life. As he sings in Gold Coin, MacPherson has seen and experienced enough to realize that “everyone of us, all of us… we are all capable of evil and righteousness.” Marvellous stuff from a local treasure. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Mr. X; Colourful; Gold Coin

— John Kendle

https://youtu.be/VzbOjDeQ70k

 

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POP / ROCK

Joan Osborne
Trouble and Strife (Thirty Tigers)

Joan Osborne’s many fans never know where her versatile voice might land, and on Trouble and Strife it’s between two guitars, one in each stereo channel.

The album might be the closest approximation to Relish that Osborne has recorded since her release of that breakthrough album 25 (!) years ago. Guitarists Jack Petruzzelli, Nels Cline, and Andrew Carillo provide a handsome framework with their solos, fills and rhythmic riffs as Osborne makes a variety of retro pop styles sound fresh.

She honours Dylan on the title cut and Prince on Meat and Potatoes, imitating the inimitable with gusto and good humour that lift both songs above mere mimicry. Osborne also draws from gospel, country and classic rock, her distinctive alto as sultry and sonorous as ever.

She opts for topical topics on her first album of original material since 2014, singing about the gender gap, the power of diversity and the need to keep dancing and romancing.

On the bluesy Hands Off, Osborne rails against corruption and sounds eager to vote, the song offered as the soundtrack for a better tomorrow. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Meat and Potatoes, Hands Off

— Steven Wine, The Associated Press

 

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JAZZ

Manteca
The Twelfth of Never (MantecaMusic)

For four decades, the Canadian band Manteca has been disturbing the silence with sometimes wild but always fun music. The Juno Award-winning band convenes from time to time to record its latest musical thoughts; this album is number 12.

Manteca is a nonet: Art Avalos on drums, djembe and other various percussion instruments; Colleen Allen on saxes and clarinet; drummer Charlie Cooley; Mark Ferguson on trombone and keyboards; bassist Will Jarvis; Jason Logue on trumpet; guitarist Nick Tateishi; Doug Wilde on piano and Rhodes; and Matt Zimbel on congas and talking drums.

As many members of the band are multi-instrumentalists with a percussive bent, the rhythms are particularly strong — check out Lowdown for a bluesy rhythmic treat. The sort of title track, Never Twelve, is simply Manteca funk at its best; Meanwhile Tomorrow and Purple Theory have great solos by trombonist Ferguson and saxophonist Allen.

There are Manteca albums that are perhaps slightly funkier than this one, but here the nine members offer an almost joyful attitude on every track, with the extra percussion adding a Latin feel.

Over the years Manteca has been recognized for its offbeat humour, great spirit and restless, toe-tapping rhythm, and one hopes that it will never really grow up, maintaining the fresh and cheeky style it’s known for. If there is a tad more “maturity” in this album than in earlier releases, it’s not enough to change the brand. In fact, there is no need to over-analyze this release, as it’s purely enjoyable from end to end. It will put a smile on your lips and a bounce in your step — that’s probably all you need to know. Long live Manteca. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Meanwhile Tomorrow, Lowdown

— Keith Black

 

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CLASSICAL

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op.109, 110 & 111
Fabrizio Chiovetta (Aparté)

In a year filled with the music of Beethoven, honouring the 250th anniversary of the German composer’s birth in 1770, this album offers another musical take on his keyboard sonatas, courtesy of award-winning Swiss pianist Fabrizio Chiovetta. Best known as a sensitive lied accompanist, as well for his performances in numerous chamber ensembles, the artist who is on the faculty at the Geneva University of Music turns his hands to three late piano works that allow him to shine as a master soloist in his own right.

The first of those, Piano Sonata, Op. 109, provides the first taste of the musician’s graceful artistry, which includes his ability to spin webs of sound, matched equally by lyrical phrasing and further underpinned by his luminous tone.

Chiovetta’s decidedly introspective approach is also immediately displayed during Piano Sonata, Op. 110, with the artist resisting temptation to infuse these pieces composed in utter deafness with the “Sturm und Drang,” or turbulent emotion, that’s the hallmark of this particular composer. His gentler, even empathic interpretation mines their depths, while revealing their inherently poetic essence. A particular highlight is the finale, Adagio molto, rendered with deep sensitivity and the eloquence of a tragic hero.

Finally, Piano Sonata, Op. 111 with its sole two movements offers greater bite from its opening Maestoso — Allegro con brio ed appassionato movement through to Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile, proving that still waters run deep both for this latest interpreter of these perennial works, as well as their composer, who had fire in his belly until the bitter end. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THIS: Piano Sonata, Op. 110, Adagio molto

— Holly Harris