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About Michael Davidson
Instrument: Vibraphone
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by Dan McClenaghan
Canadian saxophonist Allison Au says she was drawn to the simplicity of a jazz quartet “as a vehicle for realizing the visions of my original compositions." Charlie Parker must have felt the same way; Art Pepper, too. And John Coltrane. Au stuck to this format for her Wander Wonder (Self Produced, 2018) and 2017's self-produced Forest Grove (review here). Both were terrific outings that spoke to the young artist's potential. But as with the noted giants mentioned above, Au must ...
read moreAline Homzy: éclipse
by Pierre Giroux
An adage goes: “Patience Is A Virtue." That saying may be perfectly exemplified with the release of violin virtuoso Aline Homzy's recording Éclipse, which has been ten years in the making. This Canadian-American artist's long-awaited debut combines the jazz violin tradition into the contemporary world with improvisation and subtle composition. Joining Homzy under the rubric of “Aline's étoile magique" are vibraphonist Michael Davidson, guitarist Thom Gil, bassist Dan Fortin and Marito Marques on drums. Special guests are João Frade on ...
read moreAline’s étoile magique: éclipse
by Mike Jurkovic
Whether 23andMe.com, MyHeritage.com, or ancestry.com can positively divine gypsy blood in award-winning, Canadian violinist Aline Homzy is conceptually and musically neither here nor there. What is important is that she jumps from the gate on her robust debut recording with a zesty momentum which she mightily sustains throughout. Homzy, who has no problem mixing it up with any of Canada's musical vanguard, (guitarist & composer David Occhipinti, creative bassist Andrew Downing, the folky Weather Station, or pianist Amanda ...
read moreLaila Biali: Your Requests
by Dan Bilawsky
While the jazz pipeline produces plenty of artists who pay no mind to an audience's interests, those types--figures with tunnel vision, in many if not most ways--rarely reach their full potential. Instead, it's the musicians who make it a point to communicate who tend to forge the strongest bonds with those on the receiving end. Laila Biali is one such figure. This JUNO-winning gem of a vocalist, pianist, arranger and songwriter always manages to connect. Biali has a keen awareness ...
read moreJoe Chambers: Dance Kobina
by Chris May
Drummer, composer and sometime vibraphonist Joe Chambers secured his place in jazz history going on six decades ago, though you might not guess it from listening to this album. In the mid-1960s, he was the drummer on a string of historic Blue Note albums recorded by Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Bobby Hutcherson, among others, and also on a series of important albums Archie Shepp made for Impulse!, including the landmark Fire Music (1965). Given the ...
read moreNoam Lemish: Twelve
by Jack Bowers
The number Twelve has several explicit meanings on Israeli-born composer/pianist Noam Lemish's eighth album as leader of his own ensemble, which is twelve members strong (well, thirteen on the first two numbers, on which Laura Swankey adds wordless vocals, and twenty-five if one counts the thirteen-member chorus on Track 3). Returning to the basic premise, Lemish composed his first piece of music at age twelve, and it has been twelve years since he relocated from San Francisco to Toronto, Canada. ...
read moreTriio: Six-ish Plateaus
by Dan McClenaghan
Canadian bassist Alex Fournier takes inspiration from some of the best, most notably bassist/cellist/composer Andrew Downing and bassist/composer Michael Formanek. Both of these mentors sit outside the mainstream, but not far off, within spitting distance we might say. Six-ish Plateaus, by Fournier's Triio—which is not a trio but rather a sextet--explores the hybrid of written material and energized freedom with two reeds, guitar and vibraphone, drums and bass line-up. Distinction of sound is a key here. The ...
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