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Sam Kirmayer: In This Moment
by Jack Bowers
Montreal-based guitarist Sam Kirmayer leads a well-modulated sextet on In This Moment, wherein all ten of the album's numbers were written by Kirmayer. That is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, Kirmayer's themes are, for the most part, light, sunny and squarely in the jazz tradition; on the other, none of them is likely to enter the standard canon. They are more pleasant than memorable, which evidently suits his purpose. The ensemble, however, gives ...
read moreSean Fyfe: Late Night
by Pierre Giroux
Sean Fyfe is a peripatetic Canadian jazz pianist who has vagabonded his musical way from Vancouver Island to Montreal to New York City and now London. He has not forgotten the friends he met along the way and so his cohorts for the session are some buddies from Montreal: guitarist Sam Kirmayer, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer André White. In keeping with the concept of staying with things that are familiar, of the eight-composition playlist for ...
read moreSean Fyfe Quartet: Late Night
by Jack Bowers
The opening number on pianist Sean Fyfe's latest album, Late Night, is “Happy," which could serve as a subtext for the album as a whole. Even when performing a solo rendition of Billy Strayhorn's mournful “Lush Life," Fyfe somehow manages to sound happy, lending a sunny counterweight to the heart-breaking sense of loss that permeates Strayhorn's jazz classic. Happy seems to be inbred in Fyfe's temperament, which is one of the reasons listening to Late Night is such a pleasure. ...
read moreMarshal Herridge: Chapter One
by Jerome Wilson
Marshal Herridge is a young bassist from Montreal who here releases his first CD, a set of energetic mainstream jazz, with a band containing three local musicians: guitarist Sam Kirmayer, pianist Andre White and drummer Guillaume Pilote. Herridge wrote all the music using a variety of familiar approaches. “HerridgeIn" has a brisk boppish melody attacked by the entire group in a lively manner, with Herridge's bowing standing out both in the opening theme statement and eventual solo. The ...
read moreMarshal Herridge: Chapter One
by Jack Bowers
Chapter One, the debut recording from bassist Marshal Herridge, showcases his admirable Montreal-based quartet performing nine of the leader's bright and limber compositions and arrangements. Besides keeping splendid time (his sonorous bass is recorded so prominently that not a beat is missed or undervalued), Herridge solos eloquently in the manner of his musical heroes, Paul Chambers and Scott LaFaro, whose artistry served as inspiration for the album. Exercising his prerogative as foreman, Herridge solos on every one ...
read moreSam Kirmayer: Opening Statement
by Jack Bowers
Whenever a group of young musicians (in this case a guitar-led quartet from Montreal) makes its recording debut, a number of questions quickly arise. First and foremost, can they play? Check. Do they swing? Check. Is the music bright and refreshing? Check. Are they sharp and enthusiastic? Check. Do they blend well as a team? Check and check again. Having checked all the boxes, guitarist Sam Kirmayer and his colleagues produce an Opening Statement that boldly announces their arrival and ...
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