PAPATAMUS REDUX

FLAT SIXTH RECORDS 1001 (RELEASED OCTOBER 17, 2025)

Maria Kaushansky’s music on Northbound to Finch is inspired as much by her years growing up in Toronto as it is by the pianistic stylings of Brad Mehldau, Joni Mitchell and Chick Corea as well as her classical training. So, it not surprising that the nine originals performed by pianist Kaushansky, bassist Paul Gill and drummer Anthony Pinciotti are a blend of jazz, classical, folk and pop. Born in Russia, Kaushansky’s tunes are more like stories about her memories of Toronto, the city she called home before moving to New York City in 2015. The pulse of the title track, for example, captures the movement of Toronto’s subway at it approaches her home stop — Finch. She reflects on childhood memories with So Long Centerpoint Mall, an introspective piece filled with melancholy and longing. The driving energy of Last Call at the Green Room, is Kaushansky’s musical essay on the dive bar she used to frequent as a University of Toronto student. The opening footstep like drumbeats and rhythmic pulse of 512 St, Clair tells the story of Kaushansky’s work as an accompanist in a local Toronto ballet school located at that address. Today, in addition to her jazz performances, Kaushansky is an in-demand ballet accompanist in New York City. The light and folksy Newtownbrook tells the musical story of the joys and pains of her high school days at Newtonbrook Secondary School. The other musical stories on Northbound to Finch (including the six unnecessary alternate takes) follow the same storytelling approach with the exception of Four One Six, a soulful, bouncy tune in the tradition of Ramsey Lewis. Kaushansky has a knack for telling these musical stories with flowing sentences aided by the perfect punctuation provided by Gill (check out his beautiful pizzicato solo on So Long Centerpoint Mall as well as his arco solo on Four One Six) and the always sensitive drumming of Pinciotti, who sadly passed away a few weeks following this session. Hopefully, Kaushansky’s next recording will capture the energy, creativity and vitality of her new surrounding in New York City rather than the somewhat pastel reflections and memories or her time in Toronto.

BOTTOM LINE: Ths music of Northbound to Finch sits somewhere between the ruminations of new age music and the harder edge of straight-ahead jazz. Her unique blend of classical, folk, pop and jazz influences captures her reflections of growing up in Tororo, but may not capture the interest of serious jazz listeners, despite the solid performance for trio members bassist Paul Gill and the late drummer Anthony Pinciotti.