Michael Blake. Fulfillment. Program music that’s more music than program, New York-based Canadian saxophonist Michael Blake’s eight-part suite Fulfillment is a reimagining of 1914’s Komagata Maru incident, when Canada’s exclusionary racial laws wouldn’t allow a ship carrying several[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman

Jonathan Adjemian and Mike Smith. Transcombobulation. Even though it’s likely that analogue synthesizers are even more popular now than in their supposed heyday, it’s still difficult not to associate their sound with another era. Fortunately, the Toronto synth duo of Mike Smith and Jonathan Adjemian don’t let that get in the[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring

François Carrier / Steve Beresford / John Edwards / Michel Lambert. Outgoing. Like a peripatetic Old West gunslinger, Montreal alto saxophonist François Carrier roams extensively to challenge himself alongside the planet’s best improvisers, and so far has gone head-to-head with players from Poland, Russia, France, and the United States. Now it’s the[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman

Guelph Jazz Festival. Guelph, Ontario. September 16–20, 2015. Storytelling of the verbal and instrumental variety was an important feature of this year’s Guelph Jazz Festival. New venues such as Heritage Hall, Guelph’s first black church, and the soft-seated Guelph Little Theatre added a feeling of intimacy to the festival’s[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Ken Waxman Issue 124

In the Sea. Henry Crabapple Dissappear. Vinyl releases are almost the norm now, as artists strive for added-value alternatives to free downloads or cheap streaming. But audiocassettes? The degree to which that trend might catch on remains to be seen, but in the meantime some excellent music is being released in that format[...] Read more

Recordings Lawrence Joseph Issue 124

Hanoi New Music Festival Ensemble 2013. Being Together. Although Hanoi is more closely associated in North American minds with 1960s Vietnam War designators like the Ho Chi Minh trail and the Hanoi Hilton, the city now has an improvised music scene, and this disc celebrates Hanoi’s first-ever New Music Festival. Being Together, a three-part[...] Read more

Recordings Ken Waxman Issue 124

Thanos Chrysakis. Above The Hidden Track An Endless Blaze. Electronic musician (and, elsewhere, pianist) Thanos Chrysakis’ newest release is dominated by dense continuous textures that throng the sonic field. It’s an undeniably intense listening experience, with less breath and fewer blatant contrasts than some of his other solo work.[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 124

Philippe Battikha. Invisible Backgrounds. Balance and variety are the keys to Montreal trumpet player Philippe Battikha’s latest release, on which he avoids the flashy displays of technical virtuosity evident on many solo instrumental albums. Best known for his work in noisy ensembles such as La Part Maudite and Corse and as a[...] Read more

Recordings Lawrence Joseph Issue 124

APA / JØ. Der Stromausfall / Cloudbursting. For the first half of this collaborative noise performance that took place in a pop-up storefront gallery in the Dundas West area of Toronto, JØ (Johann Diedrick, NYC) and APA (A Pure Apparatus, aka Xuan Ye, Toronto) perform entirely without electrical power. An outage during Diedrick[...] Read more

Recordings Kristel Jax Issue 124

Linda Catlin Smith. Thought and Desire. In his “Sonnet 45” William Shakespeare muses on thought and desire as “present-absent” qualities. Both testify to a bond with the loved one, but they speak also of distance. Pianist Eve Egoyan sings the words of this sonnet as she plays Linda Catlin Smith’s[...] Read more

Recordings Julian Cowley Issue 124

Jerusalem In My Heart. If He Dies, If If If If If If.         Jerusalem In My Heart’s second album bristles with all the forward momentum that was lurking just below the surface of its debut release. Noted producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh is in charge of the sonic aspect of the Montreal-based[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring