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Those who believe in the death knell of the CD better think twice. Justin Time Records and Disques Effendi, the local jazz labels, don’t seem to buy into this dire prediction. The former kicks off the season this month with three new titles.
- Matt Herskowitz Trio + 1 – Forget me Not (Homage to Lew Soloff)
- Quadro Nuevo with Cairo Steps – Flying Carpet
- Cecile McLorin Salvant – Dreams & Daggers
Not to be outdone, Effendi has four titles on tap for this fall.
- Simon Legault – Hypnagogia Polis
- Emie R Roussel Trio – Intersections
- Tevet Sela / John Roney – The River
- François Bourassa Quartet – Number 9
Pianist Josh Rager, a one-time Effendi alumnus, has now found a home with a new label from Alberta, Bent River Records. His first outing (Jondo) features a ten-piece band comprised of top-notch Montreal stalwarts. More on that next month.
Chet Doxas passed through his hometown last summer as part of star trumpeter Dave Douglas’ group Riverside. Now in New York, this saxophonist makes his first move stateside with Rich in Symbols (Ropeadope Records), with Douglas sitting in. Noblesse oblige…
Ambiances Magnétiques, the city’s experimental music hub par excellence, will launch its annual slate of new titles on December 14 at La Sala Rossa. At this writing, the final list of titles was not yet available, save for Jean Derome’s ambitious Résistances, a unique work written for a 20-piece ensemble that kicked off a year of special projects in 2015.
Tour de Bras, a label based in Rimouski, is a something of a junior counterpart to Ambiances, its vocation clearly skewed towards the experimental. In a scant ten years it has released a highly eclectic catalogue, with some titles defying categorization. More on that in the November issue. Now in the works is a milestone 5-CD set of material recorded by the first free jazz group in the province, the Quatuor du Jazz Libre du Québec. Its release is slated for the early part of 2018.
Beyond such labels, artist-produced albums are much the norm nowadays. In October, for instance, saxophonist Mario Allard and his quintet will launch Diaporama, the first new side for its leader in a decade, whereas youthful pianist Daniel Arthur makes his trio debut with Vivid.
Trumpeter Rachel Therrien, finally, has just released a new album at the helm of her quintet.
After two offerings of acoustic jazz, this winner of the Montreal Jazz Fest competition in 2015
Is back with Why don’t You Try, (MCM Records), this third album devoted to a more fusion style with keyboards and electric bass leading the charge.
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