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Jazz Articles about Ernesto Cervini
Willliam Carn: Choices
by Dan McClenaghan
The short tune “Breathe" opens Choices, sounding like something holy, in a futuristic, science-fiction way. This is how Canadian trombonist William Carn introduces his album. It is a “do it from home," mostly remotely recorded set, reminiscent—to go back over half a century— of Paul McCartney's first solo album McCartney (Apple Records, 1970). McCartney's impetus for recording his “do it yourself" project was the crumbling of the Beatles. Carn's “do it yourself" Choices came about due to the isolation and ...
Continue ReadingDan McCarthy: Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded, Atavistic Freakout
by Dan Bilawsky
Songs of the Doomed is, in essence, the love child of self-stylized journalism and outré composition methodologies. Drawing inspiration from the work of Hunter S. Thompson, vibraphonist Dan McCarthy created the gonzo cypher to help translate some of the maverick's writer's lines into tone rows. The rules of serialism then cemented certain things in place while setting the leader and his bandmates on a course to another universe. Working with a two-guitar quintet, à la mallet great ...
Continue ReadingErnesto Cervini: Joy
by Dan McClenaghan
Joy. That's how Canadian drummer Ernesto Cervini rolls. All of his musical undertakings--and there are many--strut along the sunny side of the street with smiles on their faces, carnations in their lapels. Indeed, in his side gig as the boss of Orange Grove Publicity--representing some of Canada's finest jazz artists-- joy, positivity and general all around good vibes pervade. For his album Joy, Cervini brings in three of his regular working groups, Turboprop, Tetrahedron and TuneTown, to help ...
Continue ReadingCarn Davidson 9: The History of Us
by Jack Bowers
From north of the U.S. border comes The History of Us, a warm-hearted album by the Carn Davidson 9, a Toronto-based nonet co-led by trombonist William Carn and saxophonist Tara Davidson. The album consists of a pair of three-part suites, one by Carn, the other by Davidson, separated by Carn's amiable composition, “Goodbye Old Friend," a fond salute to his late and dearly loved cat, Murphy. Carn's “Finding Home" suite, which leads things off, was inspired by ...
Continue ReadingJoel Frahm: The Bright Side
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Joel Frahm is an accomplished virtuoso with an easily recognizable style. He deftly balances an accessible, mellifluous sound with an explorative spirit. His tenth release as a leader, the captivating The Bright Side, is a collection of ten brilliant originals interpreted in a spare trio setting. The laid back atmosphere and the band's seamless camaraderie make for an engaging listening experience and the warmth, whimsy and intelligent motifs create the album's cohesiveness. “Thinking of Benny" opens with ...
Continue ReadingJoel Frahm: The Bright Side
by Dan McClenaghan
Chordless trio recordings featuring saxophone, bass and drums, no piano or guitar in the building, always draw comparisons to 1957 when a pair of the groundbreakers of the genre were recorded by saxophonist Sonny Rollins with A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note Records, 1958) and Way Out West (Contemporary, 1957). Saxophonist Joel Frahm obviously looked back to that time, having transcribed and memorized Rollins' solo on “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" (from the Village Vanguard album) as ...
Continue ReadingTuneTown: Entering Utopia
by Friedrich Kunzmann
Just over a year after releasing There From Here, their debut record--and taken from the same sessions, held at the Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, Ontario in November 2018-- TuneTown's second outing, Entering Utopia, acts as a resolute continuation of the trio's initial statement and paints the three equal leaders in the light of a varied program, combining lyrical balladry in one moment with uncompromising swing in the next. Each of TuneTown's contributors is a respected leader in ...
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