Jazz Articles
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Hilario Duran: Cry Me A River
by Pierre Giroux
Hilario Durán is a renowned Cuban-Canadian jazz pianist and composer known for contributing to Latin jazz. He does not release big band efforts often, but with the release of Cry Me A River, he has reconstituted his Latin Jazz Big Band to take us on an extraordinary musical journey, effortlessly blending myriad genres into his singular style. Durán's Afro-Caribbean cultural attachment informs the nine works of both originals and covers in this outing, resulting in a unique tapestry of sound. ...
read moreFlorian Hoefner Trio: First Spring
by Dan McClenaghan
Many piano trios reach back to past masters for inspiration, playing in the style of Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson. Others craft their sounds under the influence of contemporary players: Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Ahmad Jamal. On the other hand, the occasional piano trio comes down the road rolling its own idiosyncratic way. Pianist Florian Hoefner is one of the latter group, with his immersion in “the ethos of traditional songs and the high lonesome ...
read moreMyriad3: Vera
by Jerome Wilson
The number of contemporary jazz piano trios that take their inspiration from non-jazz sources seems to grow all the time. To a list that includes The Bad Plus, Phronesis, and E.S.T. add the Canadian group Myriad3 which draws from concepts in classical music and progressive rock. They often begin their pieces with one repeated figure and spin hypnotic webs of variations and countermelodies from there. Their style can produce works of singular beauty. On “Diamond," a quiet piano ...
read moreMyriad3: Vera
by Dan Bilawsky
Vera, the fourth album from the Toronto-based trio collective Myriad3, is a fascinating example of how fastidious design principles and shrewdly executed extemporization can truly complement and even counterpoise one another. There's serious attention to detail in each of these ten pieces, but the music benefits greatly from its embrace of uncertainties and creative expression(s). Opening with pianist Chris Donnelly's “Pluie Lyonnaise," Myriad3 immediately taps into a minimalist stream with a maximalist mindset. Characterized by hypnotic tides ...
read moreRotem Sivan Trio: Antidote
by Dan Bilawsky
Heartbreak knows no true cure, but music can act as something of an antidote or coping mechanism to assist in dealing with it and suffering through it. That's what guitarist-composer Rotem Sivan discovered after a long-term relationship came to a swift and unexpected end. He turned to music to help him grapple with his demons and confront his new reality, emerging from the experience a year later with a newfound sense of emotional well-being and this powerful album.
read moreMyriad3: Moons
by Dave Wayne
Myriad3's third release, Moons follows very much in the vein of their first two, Tell (Alma Records, 2012) and The Where (Alma Records, 2014), yet there are subtle differences both in instrumentation and their approach to their material. In short, a lot of growth is evident when one compares Moons to its predecessors. Tell, recorded a scant 2 years after the trio's formation, is essentially a virtuosic acoustic jazz album: three young cats flexing their well-developed chops. The thing that ...
read moreMyriad3: Moons
by Dan McClenaghan
Someone's always trying to take a tried and true format out on a new tangent. Consider the piano trio: Bill Evans introduced deep, classically-influenced harmonics and a democracy of instrumental input in the late fifties and early sixties. The Esbjorn Svennson Trio (e.s.t.) brought in classical, rock, pop and techno elements; The Bad Plus plays with avant-garde jazz and pop/rock influences, and they can be loud. Even the tried and true changes. It's all good; and some of it is ...
read moreMyriad3: The Where
by Dan Bilawsky
Myriad3--the Toronto-based trio of pianist Chris Donnelly, bassist Dan Fortin, and drummer Ernesto Cervini--may be the most noteworthy small group to emerge from Canada in years. Tell (Alma, 2013) introduced the band to the world, marking Myriad3 as an outfit with a post-modern outlook, respect for the traditions of this music, and the smarts not to let that respect get in the way of what it set out to do. Audacity, assurance, and the spirit of cooperation ...
read moreMyriad 3: Tell
by Dave Wayne
Three young guys in suits. Piano trio with a “band" name. Canadian. All original compositions except for “C Jam Blues." Wait, “C Jam Blues"? What? No indie rock covers? Well, then there's no way these guys could be Canada's answer to The Bad Plus. No electronics or sampling. Well, then Myriad 3 are not Canada's answer to EST, either. Yet, fans could be forgiven for thinking about those two groundbreaking piano trios while listening to Myriad 3's engaging and thought-provoking ...
read moreMyriad3: Tell
by Bruce Lindsay
Tell is the debut of Myriad3, a young, Toronto, Canada-based trio formed in 2011 after its members met on local gigs. Recording the album over just two days the following year, the trio's interplay and sense of togetherness belie both its members' youth and the relatively recent establishment of Myriad3 as a unit. There's a very democratic feel to the trio's work with no obvious leader, no obvious follower, and each player taking the role that best suits the music ...
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