PAPATAMUS REDUX

TPR RECORDS 017  (RECORDED DECEMBER 2022)

You don’t have to be Canadian to appreciate Ernesto Cervini’s “A Canadian Songbook.”  All you really need to appreciate is tight arrangements, a variety of moods and outstanding solos.  That’s what drummer Cervini delivers on this collection of seven tunes penned by fellow Canadians and performed by his long-running sextet Turboprop. This new release has it all — blues-infected tunes such as “Stuck Inside,” a Cervini original;  the hard-driving sound on “Aureole,” written by saxophonist Allison Au; the percussive/contrapuntal groove of “Skeletons,” by Canadian pianist James Hill; the pop music flavor of “Clumsy,” a hit for Canadian rock band Lady Peace; and the Abdullah Ibrahim’s South Africa vibe on the band’s interpretation of Barenaked Ladies’ (a Canadian band) “When I Fall.”  Each tune is crafted in a way that not only demonstrates the interplay between the three-horn front line of Joel Frahm on tenor, Tara Davidson on alto and William Carn on trombone, but provides ample solo space for those musicians as well as from pianist Adrean Farrugia and bassist Dan Loomis. Driving it all is the shifting rhythms of drummer Ernesto Cervini. 

BOTTOM LINE: For tight ensemble playing, shifting rhythms and explosive solos, go north young man.