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Don Thompson / Rob Piltch: Bells... Now and Then
by Dave Linn
Don Thompson and Rob Piltch have taken different paths in their musical careers. Thompson was a triple threat (piano, bass, vibraphone) on the Toronto studio and club scene during the late 1960s, later becoming the bassist in Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass. He began touring with Jim Hall in 1974, later appearing on the guitarist's album, Live! (Horizon, 1975) recorded at Toronto's Bourbon Street jazz club. That same year he played with the Paul Desmond Quartet (with Ed Bickert ...
read moreDon Thompson & Rob Piltch: Bells... Now and Then
by Pierre Giroux
Multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson and guitarist Rob Piltch are two Canadian musicians who, in 1981 and 1982, recorded an album entitled Bells for the Umbrella label. The material has been remastered and reissued as Bells...Now and Then, bookended by two new recordings of compositions by Thompson. Don Thompson has been a highly-regarded part of the Toronto and Canadian jazz scene since the late 1960s, playing bass in an early iteration of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass, touring with ...
read moreLorne Lofsky: This Song Is New
by Friedrich Kunzmann
The liner notes to This Song is New explain how the term “old school" suits guitarist Lorne Lofsky just fine. Not in its pejorative sense, but rather in the spirit of a master of an old art, now considered to be quaint. It is indeed a fitting description for the compositions and performances that constitute the guitarist's first recording of original material in over 20 years. More a player than a composer, the former Oscar Peterson collaborator presents a strong ...
read moreLorne Lofsky: This Song Is New
by Jack Bowers
Over the years the guitar has earned a unique position in the annals of jazz. At times strident, ear-splitting and generally distasteful, at others one of the loveliest, most amiable and pleasing instruments in any circumstance, especially when placed in the capable hands of a master such as Canada's Lorne Lofsky. This is the guitar as it should be played, smooth and mellow but never without due diligence or an emphatic purpose in mind. The quartet date This Song Is ...
read moreDave Young Quartet: Ides Of March
by Mark Corroto
Maybe the finest compliment you can bestow on an individual in our COVID-19 times is that he/she is a solid citizen, someone who takes it upon themselves to protect others from the dangers of this horrible virus. What does this have to do with the music of bassist/bandleader Dave Young? First, it is fundamental that all great jazz is built upon the foundation of a timekeeping bassist. Second, as evidenced by Young's Ides Of March, his solid hand upon the ...
read moreMario Romano: The Journey So Far
by Edward Blanco
Argentinian-born, Canadian-based pianist Mario Romano delivers his fourth album as leader with The Journey So Far, essentially a compilation project that takes tracks from previously recorded albums and presents them in new light. A successful real-estate developer with a strong musical background, Romano spent most of his life building a business career and after achieving uncommon success, returned to jazz after 2010. He has since become an integral part of the Canadian jazz scene and has created a high-profile with ...
read moreDave Young / Terry Promane: Octet Vol. 2
by Jack Bowers
It's a sign of the economic times (and a steadily shrinking audience) that more and more jazz CDs are being released these days in the near-equivalent of a “plain brown wrapper." That's certainly true of Octet Vol. 2, the second recording by Canada's Dave Young / Terry Promane ensemble. That does not mean, however, that the music enclosed therein is any less polished or pleasing than that produced by groups with far deeper pockets. Most of those in the octet ...
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