New music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/04/2022 (1605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

ROOTS

Bonnie Raitt
Just Like That… (Redwing Records)

There’s Winnipeg content all over Bonnie Raitt’s 18th studio album. The record’s first track, and the first single released to Americana radio stations, is Made Up Mind, a faithful cover of the slinky, love-going-wrong song by the Bros. Landreth, which Joey and Dave co-wrote with Jonathan Singleton. Then there’s keyboardist Glenn Patscha, the Hammond B3 wizard from Southdale who studied with Ellis Marsalis at the University of New Orleans in the early ’90s, played jazz in New York City, co-founded Ollabelle and is now a respected session player, sideman and regular member of Raitt’s touring and recording bands. (His solo on Waitin’ for You to Blow is absolutely scorching, and quickly and strikingly offset by his moody vamping on Blame It on Me.)

Even without the local content, Just Like That… is a notable album; further proof of Raitt’s seemingly effortless ability to bring together sounds and styles from all eras and genres and create a seamless whole that is unquestionably hers. After the thoroughly modern Made Up Mind, the California singer-guitarist offers up her version of Something’s Got a Hold Of My Heart, written by Al Anderson of NRBQ. Here Comes Love is by Lech Wierzynski of the N’Awlins-flavoured California Honeydrops, while Love So Strong is her take on a tune by dearly departed friend Toots Hibbert.

To top it off, Raitt and guitarist George Marinelli co-wrote Livin’ for the Ones, a loving ode to friends they’ve lost to the COVID-19 pandemic (Hibbert and John Prine among them) and Bonnie herself then stretches out with two heart-wrenching, acoustic-based songs — Just Like That, about a man who seeks out the mother of the boy whose heart now beats in his chest, and Down the Hall, about the love, care and dignity shown to those at the ends of their lives in a prison hospice. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Made Up Mind, Just Like That, Waitin’ for You to Blow

— John Kendle

 

---

 

JAZZ

Karl Silveira
A Porta Aperta (Self-Produced)

Karl Silveira is a Toronto-based trombonist, composer and University of Toronto educator. He has been part of the jazz world for years, but this is his debut album as leader. In the works for several years, it is an auspicious arrival. His band here has David French on tenor and Allison Au on alto trading off on reeds, Chris Pruden on piano, Dan Fortin on bass and Nico Dann on drums.

Silveira’s compositional style is interesting in that it often allows multiple parts that seem independent but that interlock in fascinating and unexpected ways. Musical influences hint at many greats from Monk to Shorter and beyond, but always with a personal touch. The music is actually reflected in the title of the album that is a clever and appropriate play on words. Silveira is Portuguese, but the title has two possible meanings. It can mean either “the open door” in Latin or “the door squeezes” in Portuguese. The music does sometimes leave the listener feeling a need to squeeze through what had initially seemed like an open door.

All this is by way of saying that the music is complex, subtle and a pure treat. The title track, for example, develops from a tricky rhythmic opening to interactions with trombone, piano and tenor that are “familiar” and surprising in equal measure. Trip The Light, Fantastic is indeed danceable if one really pays attention. The musical surprises are many. The added trick is to make the music delightfully unpredictable, but not just a clever sleight of hand. Silveira pulls that off effortlessly.

Ballads like Far, and more complex tracks such as Perimeter and Rye & Lilacs, offer variety and fresh sounds. While all members solo and interact well, I was really impressed by pianist Pruden. Silveira is a generous leader who offers each colleague ample time to express ideas. Whether it squeezes you or welcomes you in, the door is a good image for this music. Let’s hope there’s a second album in the works. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: A Porta Aperta, Rye & Lilacs

— Keith Black

 

---

 

CLASSICAL

Solitude
Joo Yeon Sir, violin (Rubicon)

On this new release, South Korean-born, U.K.-based violinist Joo Yeon Sir invites listeners to meet her “new companions” encountered in a “strange and disrupted world,” i.e. solo violin works practised in solitude after all live performances were abruptly cancelled in 2020 owing to the global pandemic.

The introspective album, featuring nine works, equally showcases her versatility, beginning with Biber’s plaintive Passacaglia in G minor, C 105/HB 14, followed by two fiendishly difficult Paganini works: Caprice No 10 I G Minor, Op. 1 and Caprice No. 24 in A Minor. Both serve as fine showcases for the artist’s bravura as she navigates their treacherous technical demands, with the latter a particular standout.

However, more contemporary fare is also offered, including the world première of Through the Fog by Sir’s composer friend Laura Snowden, penned especially for this album and inspired by the theme of “solitude.” Its sparse ethos and knotty textural effects, including snap pizzicati, are highly effective, evoking the barren emotional landscape of lockdown. Others include Roxanna Panufnik’s Hora Bessarabia, a driving, postmodern take on folk dance, and Fazil Say’s similarly intense, wholly modern Cleopatra, performed with conviction.

Inspired by the love letters shared between Chris Barker and Bessie Moore during the Second World War, Sir’s own My Dear Bessie explores sentiments of longing, fear and hope, based on Vera Lynn’s immortal 1939 song We’ll Meet Again, which forms the groundwork for her compelling solo.

Finally, no solo violin program would be complete without a work by the King of Violin, Belgium’s Eugene Ysaye, and his Sonata No. 6, Op.27 ends the album — literally — on a high, optimistic note, as if petitioning for better days to come as the world inches towards a post-pandemic era. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THIS: My Dear Bessie, composed and performed by Joo Yeon Sir

— Holly Harris